Students, faculty protest Indiana’s religious freedom law

Photos by ALYSSA SMITH/The Shield

Max Hedon only needed 10 minutes to plan a protest.

The 23-year-old transgender male said he woke up Friday to the news that Gov. Mike Pence had signed Senate Bill 101, Indiana’s version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which protects businesses and corporations’ religious freedoms. It angered him so much that he organized a peaceful protest at the Four Freedoms Monument in downtown Evansville Monday afternoon.

Social media blew up and caught the attention of state representative and mayoral candidate Gail Riecken, who asked if she could come to the protest and speak.

“She told us she supports the LGBT community and everyone I’ve mentioned her name to is like, ‘Oh, yeah. She’s really big into this,’” he said.

Riecken credits that support to her upbringing and her church, saying everybody there has always embraced the issues of equality and justice.

“I have friends that are gay. I have friends that are straight. I believe in diversity. I welcome differences,” Riecken said. “That’s my style of living and it’s the way I’ve been all my life.”

Before Riecken spoke, Hedon introduced her to the crowd that gathered around the monument.

On March 24, a fan tweeted to J.K. Rowling and said, “I wonder why you said that Dumbledore is a gay because I can’t see him in that way,” to which the best-selling author replied, “Maybe because gay people just look like…people?”

Inspired by Rowling’s response, Hedon told the protestors why they were gathered.

Holding a megaphone and standing in front of the words “Dumbledore wouldn’t let this happen” spray-painted in black against a white bed sheet, Hedon said, “We’re going to show Mike Pence – that Muggle – that we will not lay down and let this happen.”

Protestors lined both sides of the Ohio River Scenic Byway with homemade signs expressing concerns about the new law.

Senior philosophy major Jacob Adams stood on the median and held open a USI folder with “Hate is not a human right! Religion is no excuse!” written on the inside of it.

“I think it’s quite apparent this law was cast to discriminate against the LGBT community,” he said. “It was passed after Indiana was mandated to have equal marriage. Gov. Pence has been unwilling to give a straightforward answer as to whether this will allow businesses and companies to discriminate against the LGBT community…and (he) has also been explicit about not being willing to push for an anti-discriminatory law that protects gender identity and sexual orientation.”

Adams said he doesn’t think the law will affect USI and the protections on the university’s campus will be fine, but he thinks the university should make an official statement rejecting it.

“I know that there are some faculty members who are on the other side, but I think overall, the university will tend towards the equality that’s already protected,” he said.

Universities speak up

Riecken echoed similar sentiments regarding a statement and suggested USI issues one similar to Indiana University’s.

Other universities throughout the state have also opposed the bill, including the University of Evansville.

On an individual level, Riecken said there are ways for young people to get involved.

“They need to speak up to the legislators here in southwestern Indiana and to say they are depending on them…to advocate for them with their governor and the leadership in both houses,” Riecken said. “It is up to the legislators to repeal this law.”

Mayor Lloyd Winnecke, who stopped by the protest, also said young people who want to make a difference should reach out to legislators and express their opinions about the law.

“Generally, I think the law sends the wrong message,” he said. “I don’t think it’s who Evansville is as a community. I see Evansville as an inclusive, welcoming city.”

For those who think their voice isn’t being heard by legislators, Winnecke said young people can make a difference by being a part of the electoral process.

“Become registered to vote and participate in the voting process,” he said.

One of the most important things, Winnecke said, is having a respectful dialogue about how to move forward.

“I mean it’s a divisive law, obviously, and we don’t need to politicize it any more than it’s become politicized,” he said. “So there needs to be a really constructive discussion from both supporters and opponents to the law.”

He called Pence’s office Monday morning and spoke to one of the governor’s aids, with whom he had a “great, constructive discussion,” he said.

Riecken, who criticized Winnecke’s statement on the law as not being forceful enough, said if she were face-to-face with the governor, she would tell him, “Governor Pence, you’ve made a terrible mistake. You’ve underestimated not just the danger, but the damage of this new law. You have to repeal it.”

Hoosiers take a stand

Mary Stoll, associate professor of philosophy, stood along the median with a cardboard box that read the same message as Adams’s folder.

While she thinks there should be equal protection of everyone’s rights and that “the RFRA puts an undue burden on the freedom of individuals when someone believes that it might be justified given their religious beliefs to infringe upon another’s freedom,” she attended the protest out of professional concern, rather than a personal one, she said.

Stoll, who studies business ethics, said the conflicts with the law are partly of professional interest because of the interplay between business and individuals and how those rights are understood by the constitution.

“Originally, they considered it at the Founder’s Convention – whether businesses should have rights – and they said no, repeatedly,” she said.

“Well, hey, there’s these laws in other states, it’s already a federal law. But the Hobby Lobby decision in 2014 set a fairly radical precedent in terms of how religious freedom – undue impingement upon one’s religious freedom – is interpreted,” she said. “That’s a key difference: the federal government and the Hobby Lobby case – you can basically infringe upon people’s rights and we’re not going to call it infringing on people’s rights when it comes to religious question.”

Stoll said that no matter what happens, the law is bad for the state’s reputation.

It doesn’t help that people outside the state think Hoosiers are not so thoughtful, or as worldly, and this just props up those stereotypes, she said.

“We’re not that bad,” she said. “We’re not great, we definitely have work to do, but there’s a lot more positive things going on than the stereotypes about the Midwest. There are a lot of Hoosiers that do care about equality, and hopefully the government will listen.”

River City stays open

Despite the law’s existence, Riecken said she doesn’t think most of Evansville’s businesses will use the law to whatever advantage they think will benefit them.

“This is not a law most of our businesses here will embrace,” she said, pointing out that, statewide, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce was against it.

Following Monday’s protest, Hedon said the organizers are going to have an After Action Review and have a meeting to put together a team to have more peaceful protests in the future, should the law not be overturned anytime soon.

Due in part to the success of Monday’s protest, social work students will host a peaceful protest for equality in response to RFRA Monday outside the Orr Center.

“This law is essentially legalizing discrimination on all fronts,” said junior social work major Katie Richardson, who’s helping plan the protest. “It’s shameful for our state that this was even passed in the first place.”

The peaceful protest is open to everyone regardless of race, religion, gender and orientation.

Richardson said part of the purpose for the protest is to also answer any questions people may have regarding the law.

The social work students will also participate in Equality Day, an event to help promote equality among customers at local businesses, Friday.

The participating businesses will have T-shirts for sale with a portion of the proceeds going to the Tri-State Alliance Pride Prom.

Fast Facts:

Equality Day

April 3, 2015

Penny Lane Coffeehouse East