Avoid Indiana

Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana has signed a Religious Freedom Restoration Act for the state. Gay people know it for its effect, a License to Discriminate Act. The signing session was behind closed doors (why hide?). In a statement Pence wrote: "This bill is not about discrimination, and if I thought it legalized discrimination in any way in Indiana, I would have vetoed it." That prompted a commenter to write: "Pence is either a complete imbecile or a disgusting liar. Or both."

George Takei says he will boycott the state (check out the fierce picture!).

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard loudly objected to the new act. Former Gov. Mitch Daniels and former Senator Richard Lugar are strangely silent.

NCAA, the group that runs the college basketball tournament currently in progress, is annoyed. One of the Final Four games is in Indianapolis and NCAA is trying to figure out how to make sure its athletes and fans are safe. They're so annoyed that they, "intend to closely examine the implications of this bill and how it might affect future events as well as our workforce." My, what a stiff backbone you have.

Some backbones are indeed stiffer. The huge gaming convention Gen Con has said they will take their $5 million worth of business elsewhere. And cloud computing company Salesforce has canceled all projects that require travel to Indiana. CEO Marc Benioff says Pence wants to increase high-tech jobs in the state, but Pence doesn't realize that a big portion of the tech industry is gay.

The crazy conservative news out of Indiana keeps on coming. The state Supremes that public school districts don't have to provide bus service for students. Ya see, though the state constitution mentions a free public education, "the framers did not intend for every aspect of public education to be free." The schoolhouse doors will remain open even if you can't get there. Now add in two other bits of info:

* Moina Lucious was charged with neglect and faces up to three years in jail because her son was consistently absent or tardy. So a poor family is caught in a bind. They don't have a car to get that child to school, yet will be arrested if the child isn't there.

* Districts want to end bus service to minimize deficits. Yet the state budget has a $2 billion surplus. That surplus gives Pence conservative bragging rights, even if the kids in his state aren't educated.

So, in my travels this summer I'm either flying or if I'm driving I'll take the fastest route through Indiana, such as Michigan City to Chicago.