Would Restaurants Be Allowed to Turn Away LGBT Customers?

Does the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act allow business owners to put their beliefs above the rights of their employees or customers?

No, the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act protects the rights of all citizens. This law treats all American citizens equally. It ensures that people of all faiths have the right to live out their beliefs at home, in worship and at work, without unnecessary government coercion. The Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act simply says that if the government is going to substantially burden religious exercise it must prove it is doing so for a compelling governmental interest and in the least restrictive way possible.

Indiana’s religious freedom law protects citizens from government coercion—it places the burden of proof on the government if it is going to violate liberty. For over 20 years, the federal government has lived by this standard—the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 passed unanimously in the House, with 97 votes in the Senate, and was signed into law by Bill Clinton. Today, there are a total of 30 states that live under that same standard through statute or court precedent.

Does this law give businesses a “license to discriminate”?

No. In the more than 20 years that Religious Freedom Restoration Acts have been on the books, we haven’t seen the kind of absurd hypotheticals that opponents are just now conjuring up.

In reality, Religious Freedom Restoration Acts protect religious freedom for all Americans, in cases that have nothing to do with current political debates. For example, Religious Freedom Restoration Acts have provided protection for Sikhs, Muslims, Jews, Native Americans, among many others. They have protected the freedom of a Sikh woman to carry religious articles of her faith at work, allowed a Native American boy to wear long hair at school, and ensured a Christian ministry could continue serving recently released prisoners.

Importantly, Religious Freedom Restoration Acts aren’t a blank check to do whatever one wants in the name of religion. Not every Religious Freedom Restoration Act plaintiff has won.

People say Indiana’s law allows individuals to sue each other, not just the government, and it defines “person” to include corporations. Is Indiana’s law significantly different from the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act and other state Religious Freedom Restoration Acts?

No, Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act is not significantly different from the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act or other state Religious Freedom Restoration Acts. Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act states clearly what multiple federal courts have interpreted federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act to mean. It is not ambiguous and those who are describing it as an ominous new development with untold consequences are misreading the plain text of the law and the long legal history of Religious Freedom Restoration Act’s commonsense protections.

Won’t the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act allow business owners to refuse service to LGBT people?

No, and no one is interested in refusing to serve gays and lesbians simply because of their sexual orientation. And no one has ever successfully used Religious Freedom Restoration Act to defend such actions. As law professor and religious liberty expert Douglas Laycock—a same-sex marriage supporter—notes: I know of no American religious group that teaches discrimination against gays as such, and few judges would be persuaded of the sincerity of such a claim.

Wouldn’t the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act allow a Muslim business owner to refuse service to women not wearing a hijab?

It depends. All the Religious Freedom Restoration Act does is say that Muslims get the same religious liberty protections as all other Americans and deserve their day in court. All Americans, regardless of their faith background, should be free to run their businesses, charities or houses of worship in accordance with their religious beliefs.

Why does Indiana (or any state) need a Religious Freedom Restoration Act if there’s already a federal Religious Freedom Restoration?

The federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act protects against federal government violations of religious liberty, and state Religious Freedom Restoration Acts protect against state violations. Citizens need protection at both levels of government.

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