INDIANA: Hate Groups Sue To Overturn State’s “RFRA Fix” And All Local LGBT Rights Laws

You may recall that civil rights groups were far from satisfied with Indiana’s “fix” to make its “religious liberty” law less anti-LGBT. But as we know, ANY law that protects LGBT citizens is too much for hate groups. Therefore, emboldened by last month’s win in Houston, they are now aiming their Jesus Guns at Indiana. The Indiana Business Journal reports:

The “RFRA fix” passed in April to quell discrimination fears about the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is now being challenged as unconstitutional by two organizations that were the most vocal proponents of the original legislation.

The Indiana Family Institute and the American Family Association of Indiana filed a lawsuit Thursday afternoon in Hamilton County Superior Court, arguing that the RFRA fix not only violates their religious liberty, but also their freedom of conscience, right to free speech and association, equal protection under the law and right to due process.

The lawsuit also challenges the constitutionality of the city ordinances passed by Carmel this year and Indianapolis a decade ago, which add sexual orientation and gender identity as categories in their non-discrimination laws.

Much of the lawsuit’s arguments were aired this year during debates over the Carmel ordinance. But the conservative groups continue to say the anti-discrimination statutes are too vague and sweeping to avoid trampling on the foundational freedoms of the First Amendment and the Indiana constitution.

More from the News & Tribune:



Sen. Travis Holdman hoped debate over his LGBT rights bill would weigh questions of religious liberty with the expansion of civil protections.

A conservative Republican, Holdman labored to include sweeping language in the 20-page proposal that anticipates everything from hiring to use of public facilities. He carved out exemptions based on religious beliefs.

But, as feared, opponents now brand the measure filed last month as a “bathroom bill.” Holdman’s effort to broaden the state’s civil rights law to include sexual orientation and gender identity may soon be bogged down in questions about who should be allowed to use which restroom.

Mirroring objections raised to similar laws elsewhere, religious conservatives paint the measure as cover for predators to enter public bathrooms. Opponents to a similar LGBT rights bill in Houston, Texas, shot it down earlier this fall with ads showing a little girl confronted by a scary man in the bathroom.