Since Indiana Governor Mike Pence recently signed a bill into a law that is being called blatantly discriminatory, the condemnation has been nearly universal.
According to an article in the Indianapolis Star, thousands of people gathered in the state's capital Saturday to protest the new Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Although organizers had low expectations as to turn out, attendees showed up and marched en masse from Monument Circle to the Statehouse.
Their shouted chant was a short, yet powerful "No Hate in Our State."
The protesters aren't alone, as celebrities have joined in adding their voices to the tumult.
As reported by the Daily Caller, several well-known personalities have taken to Twitter to bash the new law. Ashton Kutcher likened the law to anti-Semitism. Mark Ruffalo called it a "hate law". Ellen Degeneres said that individuals refused service “deserved better”, and George Takei happily re-tweeted the bold actions taken by prominent politicians in response to the legislation.
Those actions referred to by Takei are about a story in the New York Daily News, which states that San Francisco’s mayor, Ed Lee, has banned city employees from traveling to Indiana on official business or with public funds, unless that business was absolutely necessary for public safety or health.
According to the San Francisco Examiner, Mayor Lee said, “San Francisco taxpayers will not subsidize legally-sanctioned discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people by the state of Indiana."
Even after the condemnation, the ridicule, and the negative commentary, it seems like the harshest and longest-lasting repercussions of this new law are going to be felt financially by the state as a whole. Businesses and business organizations across the country are criticizing the law, and they are indicating that their response might be to hit Indiana right where it hurts – directly in the state's coffers.
Just a quick review of the prominent organizations that have already publicly spoken out against the Religious Freedom Restoration Act indicate that the Hoosier State stands to lose billions of dollars.
CNN Money reports that business-rating website Angie’s List is shelving its $40 million headquarters campus expansion project in Indianapolis and will evaluate alternatives in other locations.
The company's CEO, Bill Oesterle, said, "We are putting the' Ford Building Project' on hold until we fully understand the implications of the Freedom Restoration Act on our employees, both current and future. Angie's List is open to all and discriminates against none, and we are hugely disappointed and what this bill represents."
On the company's official blog, Yelp’s CEO wrote, "it is unconscionable to imagine that Yelp would create, maintain, or expand a significant business presence in any state that encouraged discrimination by businesses against our employees, or consumers at large… Yelp will make every effort to expand its corporate presence only in states that do not have these laws allowing for discrimination on the books.”
The domino effect is increasing. In the same CNN article, businesses expressing their condemnation include printing companies, Apple, Salesforce, the NCAA, Eli Lilly and Company, the NBA, and video-gamers convention, Gen Con. Last year, the convention brought over 50,000 visitors and $50 million to the state's economy.
Even Indiana's own Chamber of Commerce says, "The law is totally unnecessary", according to the article.
So what is likely to occur?
It is all going to come down to dollars and cents.
There are going to be businesses that stick to their guns and refuse to hold conventions or expand their operations in the state of Indiana as long as this law remains on the books.
Unfortunately, the realities of business often trump morals, especially in the short term. For example, before the law was signed into existence, Gen Con said it would cease operations in Indiana if the law passed.
However, in an open letter written after the passage, the company's CEO, Adrian Swartout, expressly said, "We have a contract with the city of Indianapolis through 2020."
He further expressed the company's disappointment and indicated that the future is unclear, since planning and bidding for 2021 and beyond has just begun.
The majority of other businesses, while vociferously speaking out against such a law of exclusion, all tend to stop short of actually pledging to cease operations within Indiana.
It is going to be up to the customers of these major corporations to start a groundswell that puts pressure on the corporations themselves to put further pressure on the government of the state of Indiana. This may mean protests, social media campaigns, and even boycotts in tourism and against any companies that decide to support this legislation.
In a 2014 panel held in Washington DC, the World Bank discussed The Economic Cost of Homophobia, and determined that excluding sexual minorities could negatively affect a country's Gross Domestic Product by as much as 1.7%.
Indiana's economy is worth approximately $300 billion a year. If it could be definitively demonstrated to the powers that be that anti-LGBT discrimination costs the state over $5 billion a year before business boycotts are even taken into account, maybe the state's politicians could rectify this grievous wrong.