WASHINGTON, D.C.
ASAE, The Center for Association Leadership, sent a letter to Indiana Governor Mike Pence, and to the majority and minority leaders of Indiana’s House and Senate, urging them to adopt corrective language to the new Senate Bill 101, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).
ASAE wants a clear civil rights "carve-out" in RFRA, the new Indiana law signed into effect by Governor Mike Pence on Thursday, March 26, allowing businesses to possibly refuse service to gays and lesbians based on “religious freedom."
“ASAE is committed to diversity and inclusion practices within the association industry. Laws that permit discrimination are not only regressive, they put our members at risk of being denied service anywhere from restaurants to meetings and convention facilities," said ASAE President John Graham in the missive. "This sends a harmful message that fairness, equality, and the principles of our Constitution are secondary to personal prejudice. I strongly encourage Governor Pence and Indiana policymakers to amend this legislation to include civil rights protections into the bill.”
ASAE is a membership organization of more than 21,000 association executives and industry partners representing 9,300 organizations, with its members managing trade associations, individual membership societies and voluntary organizations across the United States and in nearly 50 countries around the world.
The full text of Graham’s letter in response to the new RFRA can be found at ASAE’s website.
