Indiana to clarify religious freedom law, address LGBT discrimination concerns

(Photo: Reuters)

After widespread backlash, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence had moved to clarify the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act. 

Pence said he will discuss modifying the language of the law with legislators, to avoid discrimination charges. 

The act was signed into law on Thursday, and allows businesses to refuse service to avoid a "substantial burden" on their religious beliefs. Critics say the law can be used to discriminate against the LGBT community, but Pence insisted that was not its intention.

"[T]his law is not about discrimination," he told the Indianapolis Star's Tim Swarens."It's about protecting religious liberty and giving people full access to the judicial system."

Companies threatened to move conferences, withdraw their business, and enact other means of protest in Indiana after the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was assigned. Celebrities and pundits such as George Takei and Don Lemon also criticised the law. 

While Pence is open to clarifying the legislation, he does not intend to change the meaning of the law. 

"We're not going to change the law, okay?" the governor told ABC News's George Stephanopoulos on Sunday.

"But if the general assembly in Indiana sends me a bill that adds a section that reiterates and amplifies and clarifies what the law really is, and what it has been for the last 20 years, then I'm open to that."

Pence also reportedly said that an updated version of the law will not provide explicit protections for LGBT individuals, leading the ACLU and other civil liberties organisations to question the law's intent.

"If #SB101 wasn't intended to provide a license to discriminate why not make explicit that it can't be used for that purpose, @GovPenceIN?" the ACLU's Ian Thompson tweeted.

"This so-called clarification to #SB101 sounds like an effort by @GovPenceIN to save face that won't mean a hill of beans to #LGBT Hoosiers."