[nagdu] Guide dog users, get ready for it...

[S L Johnson]

    Hello:

I live in Indiana and I am not worried.  This law was to protect business 
owners from having to serve customers or do anything that goes against their 
religious beliefs.  For example, a bakery not wanting to bake cakes for a 
same-sex marriage.  In this     country we should still be able to exercise 
our religious freedom.  My access with a guide dog isn't going to offend 
anyone's religious beliefs.  If it does, then I'll deal with it.

Sandra and Eva

-----Original Message----- 
From: Buddy Brannan via nagdu
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2015 7:19 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: [nagdu] Guide dog users, get ready for it...

At least if you live in Indiana. While this doesn't address us in specific, 
be ready for denial of service on religious grounds. Yes, it's probable that 
a challenge to our rights wouldn't stand up (federal law probably wins), but 
that doesn't mean it *couldn't* happen.

...And then they came for me.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/03/indiana-gov-mike-pence-signs-gay-discrimination-bill

Indiana Just Made It Easier to Discriminate Against Gay Peopleâ?"And Just 
About Anyone Else


Over loud objections from Indiana business leaders, GOP Gov. Mike Pence 
signed a bill into law Thursday that protects business owners who refuse 
service to gay and lesbian customers on religious grounds. Organizers of 
mass events in Indianapolis, including the NCAA's Final Four, immediately 
decried the law as discriminatory, and suggested that the bill might cause 
the state to lose out on future business.

The law allows Indianans who are sued for discrimination to cite their 
religious beliefs as a defense. It applies to a broad range of situations. 
An employer who refused to hire Jewish employees could cite his religious 
beliefs as a defense against discrimination lawsuits. So could a landlord 
who refused to rent to Muslims, or a business that refused to serve 
atheists.

At a news conference that followed the private signing, Pence explaining he 
signed the bill "because I support the freedom of religion for every Hoosier 
of every faithâ?¦Today, many people of faith feel their religious liberty is 
under attack by government action." He cited the University of Notre Dame's 
fight to prevent its employees from accessing birth control as an example.

Pence may have signed the bill as a way to better position himself for a run 
in the 2016 GOP presidential primaries. Last year, facing opposition from 
Democrats and state business leaders, and intense media scrutiny, Pence and 
conservative Republicans abandoned a bill that would have banned same-sex 
marriage in Indiana. But the bill Pence signed Thursday drew much less 
organized opposition and press.

Pence disputed the idea that this latest bill allowed discrimination. "If I 
thought it legalized discrimination in any way in Indiana, I would have 
vetoed it," he said.

Lawmakers have introduced billspermitting businesses to discriminate against 
LGBT individuals in almost two dozen states this year. They are part of a 
wave of anti-LGBT bills that has crested as the Supreme Court prepares to 
rule on whether same-sex marriage should be legal throughout the county. The 
decision will likely come down in June.

After Pence signed the bill, Jason Collins, the first openly gay NBA player 
before he retired last year, sounded off on Twitter:

--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: 814-860-3194
Mobile: 814-431-0962
Email: buddy at brannan.name





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