~~March 31, 2015~~
From conventions to concerts, cancellations over RFRA begin
An October conference has become the first to pull out of Indianapolis due to controversy over the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) announced Monday they are pulling their 2015 Women’s Conference from the city in response to the legislation Governor Mike Pence signed into law last week. The conference was scheduled from October 9-11 at the JW Marriott.
“The 1.6 million members of AFSCME cannot in good conscience make such a sizable financial investment in Indiana knowing that women and men in that state are deliberately being targeted for discrimination,” the organization said in a release.
“AFSCME is pulling our Women’s Conference out of Indiana this fall as a sign of our disgust and disappointment with Governor Pence’s discriminatory law,” the release continued. “We stand with the ever-growing number of corporations and associations who are taking similar action this week, and demanding fairness for all in the state of Indiana.”
NCAA headquarters, the organization said RFRA could cause a re-thinking of its relationship with the city and state.
“Indianapolis is a preferred partner in heavy rotation for a lot of NCAA championships,” UIndy sports marketing expert Larry DeGaris explained, and said NCAA could change that as plenty of other cities would love the Final Four.
And losing the games would not just mean lost tourist dollars downtown. He said NCAA playoffs bring business-to-business relationships that can become highly lucrative deals.
In an interview with NBC, NCAA President Mark Emmert called the law disturbing and disheartening. He also indicated that it could impact the future of big-time college events Indiana.
“I and the Board of Governors who oversee the NCAA need to sit down and talk about what does this really mean? What are the real implications and what does that mean for the many events that we host here?,” Emmert asked. “It’s not just the final four. We do many things here and of course it’s our home state for the national office. So we’re gonna have to evaluate what that means and how we want to engage with the state going forward.”
Late word Monday, March 30, 2015, night from GenCon
The groups will still hold its 2015 convention in Indianapolis this summer, but it has put on hold plans to expand into Lucas Oil Stadium. GenCon told Eyewitness News Governor Pence called the group Monday to assure them no one would be discriminated against, but they said they would not feel confident until those assurances were put into law.
“As it appears in … full read.full credit”
http://www.wthr.com/story/28651997/afscme-pulls-national-conference-out-of-indianapolis-over-rfra
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook on Sunday broadened his criticism of a new law in Indiana, which opponents say could be used to discriminate against gay people, to other states that he says have similar laws.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law Thursday, sparking an outcry from those, including Cook, who say it could be used to protect businesses that refuse to serve gay people. The law’s supporters say it will prevent the government from forcing business owners from providing services that go against their religious beliefs.
“These bills rationalize injustice by pretending to defend something many of us hold dear,” Cook wrote in a Washington Post op-ed, referring not only to Indiana’s law, which goes into effect in July, but also to those of “more than two dozen states.”
America’s business community recognized a long time ago that discrimination, in all its forms, is bad for business. At Apple, we are in business to empower and enrich our customers’ lives. We strive to do business in a way that is just and fair. That’s why, on behalf of Apple, I’m standing up to oppose this new wave of legislation — wherever it emerges. I’m writing in the hopes that many more will join this movement. From North Carolina to Nevada, these bills under consideration truly will hurt jobs, growth and the economic vibrancy of parts of the country where a 21st century economy was once welcomed with open arms.
Tim Cook, Apple CEO
Angie’s List Cancels $40 Million 1000 Jobs Indiana Expansion Over Anti-Gay ‘Religious Freedom’ Law
Since the year after its 1995 founding, Angie’s List has been headquartered in Indianapolis,Indiana. The $315 million corporation which lets users review local businesses, especially home improvement professionals, has been planning a $40 million renovation of its own, moving its headquarters across town and adding 1000 new jobs over five years.
But thanks to state lawmakers and Republican Governor Mike Pence’s new Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act, those expansion plans have been canceled.
“As it appears in …. full read/full credit”
Home
Yelp is a multi-national corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. It develops, hosts and markets Yelp.com and the Yelp mobile app, which publish crowd-sourced reviews about local businesses, as well as online reservation service SeatMe and food delivery service Eat24. The company also trains small businesses to respond to reviews responsibly, hosts social events for reviewers, and provides data about businesses, such as health inspection scores.
Yelp was founded in 2004 by former Paypal employees at the startup incubator MRL Ventures. It was initially an unsuccessful email-based referral service, but was re-launched on the basis of unsolicited online reviews in late 2005. Yelp became a public company in March 2012 and became profitable for the first time two years later.
As of 2014, Yelp.com has 135 million monthly visitors and 71 million reviews. The company’s revenues come from businesses being reviewed on the site paying to advertise.
“Yelp opposes RFRA. It’s unconscionable to imagine that Yelp would create, maintain or expand a significant presence in any state that encourages discrimination by businesses against our employees or consumers at large.”
Jeremy Stoppleman, Yelp CEO
A supporter of GLAAD looked at the photo of the private signing ceremony on Thursday, March 26, 2015, checked it against GLAAD’s Commentator Accountability Project and found three clearly identified anti-LGBT lobbyists.
The conclusion: Pence lied.
“As it appears in … full read/full credit”
http://www.frontiersmedia.com/frontiers-blog/2015/03/29/pence-cant-give-a-straight-answer-on-religious-freedom-act/
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