With Indiana’s new religious freedom law raising concerns about discrimination against members of the LGBT community, and with MSU heading off to the Final Four this weekend, the universities sending basketball teams to Indianapolis for the tournament have responded to the controversy.
The law itself, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, provides a benchmark to guide courts in religious liberty cases. It’s similar to laws passed in 19 other states and a federal law passed in 1993, according to the Indianapolis Star. It will take effect July 1.
A strong caveat is that Indiana has no statewide anti-discrimination law for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, leaving many to fear that businesses run by religious people might be allowed to refuse service to members of the LGBT community with no repercussions.
NCAA President Mark Emmert condemned the law on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” saying it went against NCAA’s core values and went on to question the future of their relationship with Indiana.
The coaches of the four teams facing off in Indianapolis also released a joint statement Wednesday about the law, noting “Each of us strongly supports the positions of the NCAA and our respective institutions on this matter.”
Colin Wiebrecht, former representative for the Alliance of Queer and Ally Students in ASMSU’s general assembly, was disappointed the NCAA hasn’t yet chosen to move all future games out of Indiana.
“It’s very clear that this law was meant to give people license to discriminate,” he said. “There are already religious protections in the constitution that protect religious people from being burdened, to not go against their religious beliefs.”
Although Wiebrecht wasn’t necessarily sure why Indiana’s law in particular caused this much uproar, he commented that many anti-transgender laws in other states haven’t received nearly as much attention.
“It shows a complete lack of respect for the LGBT community,” Wiebrecht said. “It sort of allows any business to just sort of say, ‘Oh, I’m not going to serve you because you’re gay or you’re lesbian or you’re bisexual or transgender,’ and there’s been a lot of this since the pro-marriage equality rulings and it’s these states’ way of getting back ... to stop the progress that we’re making.”
President Lou Anna K. Simon released a statement about the controversy.
“While there has been much discussion about the new law passed in Indiana, we hope the citizens and lawmakers of that state can reach a consensus on how to best welcome all people, regardless of background,” Simon said in the statement. “Here at MSU ... inclusion is foremost among our values — treating all members of the community with fairness and dignity.”
Duke University released a significantly more pointed statement, saying it “continues to stand alongside the LGBT community” and deplores “any effort to legislate bias and discrimination.”
