Indiana Enacts Broad License to Discriminate Law - Boycotts of State Begin

Pence surrounded by hate merchants and modern day Pharisees

UPDATED:  If you are interested in boycotting companies based in Indiana - e.g., Delta Faucets and HHGregg - a list of such companies can be found here.  Feel free to let these companies know about your intention to avoid using their products and services so that they can make Mike Pence's life hell.  Let the boycott begin!

Today Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Pence proved that the nastiest, tawdry whore has more virtue than Pence when he signed a broad license to discriminate bill farcically entitled the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.   Pence defended his disgusting self-prostitution to the Christofascist elements in the Republican party base by disingenuously claiming that "people of faith feel their religious liberty is under attack by government action" when the real issue is that the modern day Pharisee "godly folk" are finding it increasingly difficult to force their beliefs on the rest of society and are demanding to be exempt from laws of general application.  And while gays are the immediate target of the law, it is written so broadly that it is merely a matter of time before Christofascists who see them selves above the law begin to use their license to discriminate to against other targets.  It is a recipe for civil law breakdown and the Christofascists need to be seen as a menace to constitutional government. Here are brief highlights from NPR:

Indiana business owners who object to same-sex couples will now have a legal right to deny them services after Republican Gov. Mike Pence signed a bill known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law.

The legislation, approved by Indiana's GOP-controlled House and Senate, prevents state and local governments from "substantially burdening" a person's exercise of religion unless a compelling governmental interest can be proved.

"Supporters of the law say it will keep government entities from forcing business owners — such as bakeries and florists who don't want to provide services to gay couples — from acting in ways contrary to strongly held religious beliefs. Gay marriage became legal in Indiana last year following an appellate court ruling."

However, the law's application could go beyond same-sex couples. During debate on the legislation, state Rep. Bruce Borders cited the example of an anesthesiologist who objected to putting under a woman who was preparing to undergo an abortion.

Thankfully, some businesses and organizations are putting their money where their mouths are and commencing boycotts of the state and curtailing business activities in the Indiana. 
Marc Benioff, the CEO of global cloud computing company Salesforce is leading the way and has  announced that he is canceling all programs that require travel to Indiana.  Moreover, he threatened the state with a “slow rolling of economic sanctions” is calling on other tech companies to join with his company.  Here are highlights from re/code:

Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff says he has canceled all his company’s events in the state of Indiana after its governor signed into law a bill that makes it legal for individuals to use religious grounds as a defense when they are sued by people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. 

“We’ve made significant investments in Indiana. We run major marketing events and conferences there. We’re a major source of income and revenue to the state of Indiana, but we simply cannot support this kind of legislation,” Benioff said in a phone interview.

Benioff said that Salesforce employs between 2,000 and 3,000 people in the state, owing largely to its 2013 acquisition of ExactTarget, an email marketing company based in Indianapolis. Salesforce paid $2.5 billion for it, and Benioff later described the acquisition as a “perfect fit.” 

Since 2007, ExactTarget has hosted its most important customer event, called Connections, in Indianapolis. Last year it drew 10,000 people and about $8 million in spending to Indianapolis. 

Salesforce announced it would move the event to New York in September. Benioff says there are other events that will be canceled as well. “We can’t bring our customers or our employees into a situation where they might be discriminated against,” he said. “We have a large number of employees and customers who would be impacted dramatically by this legislation. … I’m really just advocating on their behalf.”

Canceling events may be just the start. Benioff didn’t say what other actions he might take to protest the law and to try to get it reversed. But he said he hopes that other tech CEOs who have operations in Indiana will follow his lead. 

“Gov. Pence says he wants to bring the tech industry to Indiana and to increase the number of tech-related jobs in his state, but he doesn’t seem to understand that a significant portion of the tech industry is gay,” Benioff said. . . . . . The tech industry is not going to support this kind of legislation and is going to react against it.”

Pence is  both a whore and a cretin.  Interestingly, the New York Times is reporting that the N.C.A.A. the governing body of college sports — which is also based in Indianapolis — is hinting that it might stop staging competitions in the state in reaction to the bill.  I've only been to Indiana once and, obviously, the husband and I have no plans to return.  I may start making sure I avoid buying products connected to the state as well.  As for conservative Christians, I have even less use for them. They are a truly selfish, self-centered evil group of individuals.