Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Pence appeared on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos Sunday morning to defend his of signing last Thursday of S.B. 101—the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)—that has set the LGBT, political and business worlds on fire. In the post-Hobby Lobby world, a “person” has been extended to mean a “partnership” or a company with religious beliefs, the LGBT community says the RFRA would allow legal discrimination against gay and trans people in providing public services and accommodations. Pence said the bill is intended to prevent government overreach and protect the individual’s religious beliefs—but he will be seeking clarification. Asked eight times if the bill would allow discrimination against gays, Pence refused to answer.
Pence’s obfuscation included denouncing the media for citing the shameless rhetoric” of RFRA critics and said signing the bill was not a mistake.
“We’re not going to change the law,” he said, “but if the general assembly in Indiana sends me a bill that adds a section that reiterates and amplifies and clarifies what the law really is and what it has been for the last 20 years, than I’m open to that.”
Tolerance, Pence said, “is a two-way street.”
Pence also cited former President Bill Clinton and then-Illinois State Sen. Barack Obama, both of whom signed different versions of a RFRA, though Pence claimed they were virtually the same. “The question here is if there is a government action or a law that an individual believes impinges on their religious liberty, they have the opportunity to go to court, just as the Religious Freedom and Reformation Act that Bill Clinton signed allowed them, to go to court and the court would evaluate the circumstance under the standards articulated in this act,” Pence said.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest was also on ABC and responded after Pence was dismissed.
“If you have to go back two decades to try to justify something that you’re doing today, it may raise some questions about the wisdom of what you’re doing,” he said. “It should be easy for leaders in this country to stand up and say that it is wrong to discriminate against people just because of who they love.”
The uproar was immediate, especially on social media. The Human Rights Campaign mixed the eight responses:
A supporter of GLAAD looked at the photo of the private signing ceremony on Thursday,
checked it against GLAAD’s Commentator Accountability Project and found three clearly identified anti-LGBT lobbyists. The conclusion: Pence lied.
And late Sunday night, Apple CEO Tim Cook—who has already lead business opposition to the RFRA by Yelp, Walmart, Indiana Chamber of Commerce, Alcoa, Cummins, Eli Lilly & Co., Salesforce, Angie’s List, the NBA and the Indiana-based NCAA—penned a new op-ed for Monday morning’s Washington Post opposing all so-called “religious refusal” legislation pending or being discussed in dozens of states—including one Monday morning expected to his the desk of Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. (See HRC’s chronicles of the 85 bills in 28 states that are similar to the Indiana law.) In the piece for the Washington Post, Cook calls on his corporate colleagues to also take a principled stand:
America’s business community recognized a long time ago that discrimination, in all its forms, is bad for business. At Apple, we are in business to empower and enrich our customers’ lives. We strive to do business in a way that is just and fair. That’s why, on behalf of Apple, I’m standing up to oppose this new wave of legislation — wherever it emerges. I’m writing in the hopes that many more will join this movement. From North Carolina to Nevada, these bills under consideration truly will hurt jobs, growth and the economic vibrancy of parts of the country where a 21st century economy was once welcomed with open arms.
Lambda Legal also put out a response to Pence on ABC. Jennifer Pizer, National Director of Lambda Legal’s Law and Policy Project, issued the following clarification of her own:
“Governor Pence continues to deceive the public about this deeply flawed law. Let’s clarify a few things.
“Gov. Pence myth: SB 101 is just like Illinois law that then-State Senator Obama voted to support.
“Truth: Gov. Pence fails to point out that Illinois has robust nondiscrimination clauses in its state Human Rights Act that specifically protect LGBT people. Indiana does not. This matters because those seeking to discriminate in Indiana may claim that the lack of a statewide law barring sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination means that there is no compelling state interest in enforcing local ordinances providing such protections.
Gov. Pence myth: This law only reinforces established law in Indiana.
Truth: The language in SB 101 is so broadly written that someone can sue even without their religious beliefs having actually been burdened simply by claiming that is “likely” to happen.
“Gov. Pence myth: SB101 is just like federal law that President Clinton signed 20 years ago.
“Truth: SB 101 is substantially broader than the federal law. The federal RFRA can only be invoked against government action. SB 101 goes much further, inviting discrimination by allowing religious beliefs to be raised as a defense in lawsuits and administrative proceedings brought by workers, tenants and customers who have suffered discrimination. In addition, SB 101 makes it easier to claim a burden on religious freedom than the federal RFRA by defining the “exercise of religion” as “any exercise of religion, whether or not compelled by, or central to, a system of religious belief.”
“If Governor Pence meant it when he said that SB101 isn’t intended to allow discrimination against LGBT people, then why were amendments designed to make that explicit repeatedly rejected during the legislative process? If he truly means what he says, then he and the legislature should work together to add this language: ‘This chapter does not establish or eliminate a defense to a claim under any federal, state or local law protecting civil rights or preventing discrimination.’ And the Indiana government should include gay and transgender people within Indiana’s protections from discrimination.”
So why would Pence obfuscate? Perhaps because he is considering a run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 and RFRA gives him a chance to be a “hero” to social conservatives, much as Gov Scott Walker is a “hero” for his union-busting.
In 2010, the critical evangelical vote put him over Mike Huckabee in the Value Voters straw poll. And now Pence has a new fan in super social conservative Bob Vander Plaats, the head of the Iowa FAMiLY Leader and presumed GOP Iowa-caucus kingmaker. “I think it definitely boosts his credibility, not just with a group like ours, but for any freedom-loving American who wants to have a full-spectrum conservative in the White House,” Vander Plaats told ABC News.
Political science professor Paul Kengor, author of the upcoming book “Takedown: The Radical Left’s Assault on Marriage and the Family,” also thinks the Indiana bill is a winner—using some of the same quotable talking points as Pence:
“I totally understand that gay people want freedom and don’t want to be discriminated against, but neither do religious believers. And we do have this thing in America called freedom of religion. It’s the first right in the Bill of Rights. In a civil society of real freedom and real tolerance, both sides need to find a way to tolerate one another. Tolerance doesn’t mean tolerating only what you agree with. That’s not tolerance,” Kengor said. “Genuine respect and tolerance and diversity needs to be a two-way street.”
A social media fan of the Pence spin game put his spin on it, too: It’s all about the GOP base.
