Gen Con to move out of Indiana if Religious Discrimination bill is signed

[Puremallace]

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0ML07420150325

More businesses and conventions need to do this if you ask me. These bills are designed to allow discrimination and are not right.

(Reuters) - A major gaming convention, Gen Con, threatened on Tuesday to move its annual event out of Indiana if Gov. Mike Pence signs into law a controversial bill that would allow private businesses to deny service to homosexuals on religious grounds.

Pence has signaled he will sign the bill, possibly this week, after the Republican-controlled Indiana Senate overwhelmingly approved on Tuesday a lower-house version of the bill and moved it to the Republican governor's desk.

Both houses had previously passed the bill, which supporters say will keep the government from forcing business owners - such as bakeries and florists who don't want to provide services to gay couples - from acting in ways contrary to strongly held religious beliefs.

Opponents say the legislation is discriminatory. The Indianapolis Star has reported that big employers in Indiana, including tech giant Salesforce, diesel engine maker Cummins and Eskenazi Health, have opposed the measure.

On Tuesday, Seattle-based Gen Con's Chief Executive Adrian Swartout said in a letter to the governor that diverse attendance is important to its annual convention, which it says has a $50 million yearly impact on Indianapolis.

"Legislation that could allow for refusal of service or discrimination against our attendees will have a direct negative impact on the state's economy and will factor into our decision-making on hosting the convention in the state of Indiana in future years," wrote Swartout.

He said Gen Con hosted more than 56,000 attendees at the Indiana Convention Center last year.

Update: 3/26/2015

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/indiana-gov-pe...050305160.html

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Gov. Mike Pence on Thursday signed into law a religious objections bill that some convention organizers and business leaders have opposed amid concern it could allow discrimination against gay people.

Indiana is the first state to enact such a change this year among about a dozen where such proposals have been introduced. The measure would prohibit state and local laws that "substantially burden" the ability of people — including businesses and associations — to follow their religious beliefs.

[Rukentuts]

Nice to see people taking action against these abominations of "laws".

[Vea Lea]

private companies should be allowed to deny service on whatever grounds they want to

[Gemini Sunrise]

Can't say I really blame them for this. Just hope they actually stick to their guns and move out if it passes.

[Gheld]

Unfortunately I don't think these dinosaur republican governors understand gaming, and how it is a thing, and how it affects the economy... Now of Cummins was threatening to move, that would probably change his mind pretty damn fast.

[Dextroden]

private companies should be allowed to deny service on whatever grounds they want to

No women
No christians
No fedoras
No seevice animals
No single parents
No black hairs

Those are all fine, right?

[Dismack]

private companies should be allowed to deny service on whatever grounds they want to

Hatred and bigotry have no place in any civilized place. It is a shame that these disgraces to humanity are even allowed to vote, keeping this trash alive. Yet again, another case of why religion is just another primitive tool used to control even more primitive people.

[artemishunter1]

Yes. LIBERALS private businesses should be able to discriminate whoever they want to serve. They are not SLAVES. In return, ethical people should boycott the business. Even in the height of civil rights movement, gov't never forced private businesses to serve blacks. Economics did.

[Eliandal]

How do you prove "Strongly held religious beliefs"? It becomes just a matter of "he said she said"

This is just going to be messy.

Good on Gen-con though - even though I haven't gone for years - if they accept Cleveland's invite - I may just have to head down this year

[Gheld]

^ And yet I bet if a business owner was refusing to serve people he thought were Christians republicans would be shitting their pants about it.

[artemishunter1]

Hatred and bigotry have no place in any civilized place. It is a shame that these disgraces to humanity are even allowed to vote, keeping this trash alive. Yet again, another case of why religion is just another primitive tool used to control even more primitive people.

Hatred and bigotry is the BACKBONE of civilized place. How would a civilization even be born if not contempt of their neighbors?

[Spacehunter]

It's a shame you have to threaten these people economically in order to get them to not be shitcunts.

[Moralgy]

No women
No christians
No fedoras
No seevice animals
No single parents
No black hairs

Those are all fine, right?

I only want to serve food to heterosexual christian white males and females, why is that wrong? I mean gosh people lighten up, stop being so discriminatory.

[lockedout]

private companies should be allowed to deny service on whatever grounds they want to

I agree 100%.

[artemishunter1]

^ And yet I bet if a business owner was refusing to serve people he thought were Christians republicans would be shitting their pants about it.

Nope. They would be boycotted, as they should be. You can not take choice out of the system.

[s_bushido]

I only want to serve food to heterosexual christian white males and females, why is that wrong? I mean gosh people lighten up, stop being so discriminatory.

You allow women in your establishment? Disgusting.

[Belize]

I do wonder if they would try to pass these bills if you replaced "homosexual" with "black".

[Deleted]

No women
No christians
No fedoras
No seevice animals
No single parents
No black hairs

Those are all fine, right?

So you don't shop there and neither will a large majority of people leading them to bankruptcy or a very tiny corner of the market. Making the law is about not forcing people to be tolerant which can lead to a general dislike of government which is a problem for a number of reasons. That being said I don't agree with the law but it's important to understand why it's being proposed.

[Vea Lea]

No women
No christians
No fedoras
No seevice animals
No single parents
No black hairs

Those are all fine, right?

yes, if the company wants to

its their loss if they dont get any customers due to denying people service but it shouldnt be mandated by law

[Dextroden]

So you don't shop there and neither will a large majority of people leading them to bankruptcy or a very tiny corner of the market. Making the law is about not forcing people to be tolerant which can lead to a general dislike of government which is a problem for a number of reasons. That being said I don't agree with the law but it's important to understand why it's being proposed.

So why specifically homosexuals and not whoever you want? If this is not a bad thing, businesses no longer accepting christian customers in response should be fully supported in turn.