Critics like Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy say the law codifies discrimination against LGBT individuals and others that religious people may not agree with. They say it's especially risky because Indiana doesn't have statewide protections from discrimination due to sexual orientation.
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"I found it disturbing, disgraceful, and outright discriminatory," Malloy said at a press conference Monday. This type of discrimination "should remain in the history books and should not be reborn in this country state by state."
Pence says the critics are wrong—that the bill is about "restricting the government's ability to intrude on the religious liberty of our citizens," not legalizing discrimination—and he's supporting further legislation to "clarify the intent of the law." But just two days after signing it, Pence recognized that his state's reputation—and its coffers—has been affected by the opposition.
The Indianapolis Star, the state's biggest newspaper, has similar concerns: The Tuesday edition's cover—headlined with big block letters declaring, "Fix This Now"—features an editorial describing how "much is at stake" as lawmakers contemplate adjustments to the law, and the "consequences will only get worse if our state leaders delay in fixing the deep mess created."+ Front page of the Indianapolis Star, March 31, 2015. (Indianapolis Star)
Opposition to the law began building before Pence even signed the legislation, and when he did, critics were ready to pounce. Almost immediately after being signed, a trend began among elected officials: imposing bans on government-funded travel to Indiana in retaliation for the new law. San Francisco's mayor was the first, instituting a ban just hours after Pence signed the legislation. Seattle was next, on Saturday, with its mayor indicating he'd sign a formal executive order sometime this week. The state of Connecticut and the city of Portland, Oregon, followed on Monday. In a statement to National Journal, the U.S. Conference of Mayors said it is "concerned" and "closely monitoring" what's going on in the state ahead of their 2016 convention, currently slated to be held in Indianapolis.
On Tuesday afternoon, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo put his own ban in place, after LGBT lawmakers in the state legislature urged him to respond to the Indiana law. And Tuesday evening could bring another mayoral prohibition, from Washington's Muriel Bowser.
(RELATED: Rubio Defends Indiana's "Religious Freedom" Law)
Indiana's professional basketball and football teams, pro-LGBT-rights celebrities, and even NASCAR have expressed their opposition to the law on the national stage. Others have taken their outrage offline, like the more than 2,000 people who gathered in protest at the Indiana state Capitol on Saturday with rainbow flags in hand. Indiana's own state Chamber of Commerce said Monday that the business community "did not support [the law] and did not want to see [it] happen." It has asked companies not to move their businesses out of state, but Yelp and Salesforce have already announced that they're considering limiting their operations in Indiana as a result of the law. Angie's List, headquartered in Indianapolis, canceled a $40 million expansion of its main office, which would've brought 1,000 jobs to Indiana.