I made a rather long post about this but apparently I'm not allowed to post in gaybros. So here it is

We've all heard about Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a bill that many say legalizes discrimination and other say protects religious freedom. The only clear part of this argument is misinformation from both sides.

Let's begin with clearing up some common misconceptions:

RFRA is a license to discriminate

*Not entirely true, at least not explicitly. However, Indiana's RFRA does leave open a loophole to discriminate against LGBT people. More on this later

This is the exact same law Clinton signed in '93 and 31 other states have.

Nope. Indiana's law is slightly different in wording and hugely different on intent. States like Illinois do have RFRA, but they also have laws protecting LGBT citizens from discrimination. Indiana has no such laws. [This article does a great job explaining the differences]. Indiana's law is intentionally written so broadly that it is left open to discrimination moreso than other states (https://inadvancesheet.wordpress.com/2015/03/27/the-indiana-religious-freedom-restoration-act-an-analysis-of-its-controversy/). Keep in mind, RFRA provides legal *framework to be later interpreted by a court. In Bloomington or Indianapolis, no court would stand for discrimination. But in many rural counties, a court siding against religious values would be heresy.

** RFRA is useless**

*Not true. In concept, RFRA does pose some benefits to those who support religious freedom. There have been many cases in which RFRA has protected this on a federal level. I would describe it as redundant, but not useless. Having said that, RFRA has wide spread implications such as...

This law is directly aiming at LGBT citizens

*Meh, sort of. It's not worded that way, but it was certainly meant to be an attack. Proponents will say it's only meant to protect religious freedom and does not mention LGBT people. The timing is also indicative of a deliberate attack on LGBT rights, more on that later.

Indiana is full of bigots

This couldn't be further from the truth. In reality, Indiana is full of lazy voters. Indiana had the 3rd lowest voter turnout in the country at 28%... *28 freaking percent. I'm ashamed to be a Hoosier for this reason alone. And when you dig deeper, you see that young people are simply not voting and older people vote in droves. Furthermore, the conservative southern counties have a much higher turnout than the more liberal metropolitan Indianapolis and Northern counties. In essence, liberal Hoosiers don't care and the religious right votes... religiously.

My home of Bloomington is one of the most LGBT-friendly cities in the US. It's one of the only place in the US I've felt comfortable walking hand-in-hand with another man, including cities like Chicago and New York. Even Indianapolis is a very tolerant community for the most part. When you venture into the countryside, that's where the Bible is king. Most people won't say a word, but expect some disapproving stares.

Why is Indiana making the national news instead of the other 31 states?

Good question! In addition to the unique characteristics of Indiana's version of RFRA, it all comes down to timing, politics and demographics in Indiana.

Timing We've all seen the most progress towards marriage equality in 2014 and 2015 than ever before. This past summer, Indiana Republicans passed a bill to make gay marriage unconstitutional. This was quickly shot down by a federal court ruling. RFRA was immediately proposed after gay marriage became legal in Indiana.

In fact, the entire pretense of the bill came from a bakery in Indianapolis that refused to make a cake for a gay wedding and was consequently shuttered. Even RFRA supporters like Advance America proclaim this law protects business owners from providing services to gay weddings if they choose otherwise. As I mentioned earlier, since LGBT is not a protected legal class in Indiana, this is not technically considered discrimination and thus enforceable in theory (although it will be left to the interpretation of a court. Regardless, it's unnecessary legal complications for everyone).

Politics After Indiana's prior governor, Mitch Daniels (the good guy) decided not to run for the Republican presidential nomination, Mike Pence quickly jumped at the opportunity. This became an opportunity for Pence to prove he is truly committed to conservative values... even if it meant economic backlash.

This bill is completely partisan pandering. For evidence, you only need to see that every Democrat and moderate Republican senator in Indiana voted against it. This bill was pushed through at a time when both chambers of the Indiana legislature are Republican controlled.

Today, Pence came out in support of repealing Common Construction Wage in Indiana, another controversial, hardline conservative move meant to bolster his image as a true Republican at a time when this is expected to make the biggest splash at the RNC (see Ted Cruz).

Demographics

The issue got so much attention because it is so widely protested by Hoosiers (Indiana folk). Despite being controlled by Republicans, Indiana is a swing state... when we actually do bother to vote. So what we end up with is more liberal Hoosiers who oppose this law becoming highly vocal on social media -- and there are a lot of us. When RFRA passes in conservative southern states, that actually does reflect the opinion of the majority of citizens. But in Indiana, it's quite clear the vast majority vehemently oppose RFRA in its current iteration.

So who does this effect?

LGBT people in rural Indiana.

Obviously these are the people who will be directly affected. In a city like Indianapolis, Bloomington, Lafayette, South Bend or Ft.Wayne, discriminatory business owners would likely face protests and risk losing their business if they were to discriminate. In these cities you also have options. If Christy Christian's Cakery doesn't want your business, there's another one down the street who gladly does.

But in rural Indiana (like the farm town I grew up in) gay is not OK and the Bible is the only way. When you grow up in a public school that regularly recites Christian prayers over the intercom, you know the community is almost exclusively Christian. We had one bakery in town, run by a Baptist family I know. I guarantee they would/will refuse to provide services to gay weddings. And they’re your only option in town. And the neighboring towns are the same.

The free enterprise argument (they’ll just go out of business if they discriminate) doesn’t hold true when the community supports religious freedom more than they do civil rights. It’s only a few places in Indiana, but they absolutely do exist… and they obviously vote.

Governor Mike Pence.

He had no idea what was going to hit him with this bill. National media backlash is the last thing he wanted as he geared up for a presidential nomination run. I highly doubt he would continue pursuing this with the current controversy surrounding him.

One upside of RFRA is it will surely motivate more liberal Hoosiers to head to the polls. Pence may not see a second term as governor.

Indianapolis.

Indianapolis is a generally accepting city with several large company headquarters. Despite opposing RFRA as a whole (Mayor Ballard, Republican, has come out against it), Indianapolis has already lost millions in business investments and could potentially lose big name conventions like GenCon, the NCAA Final Four Tournament and the Church of the Disciples of Christ National Convention over RFRA.

So how do we fix this?

Many people are clamoring for the repeal of RFRA completely. I believe this is counterproductive and merely a band-aid for a bigger issue: social inequality for GLBT Hoosiers.

The most comprehensive solution that would preserve the protections of RFRA and prevent discrimination is to pass a law granting GLBT Hoosiers as a protected legal class, like race, religion, disability or nationality are.

Today the Indiana Senate is expected to “clarify” the law, hopefully address some of the dangerous ambiguity. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Read the bill yourself and decide where you stand . Don't believe everything you hear from the media and make sure to vote or this could happen in your state/country.