US corporate backlash hits religious freedom bills

Arkansas and Indiana have been forced to reconsider controversial "religious freedom" laws amid cascading criticism from a broad cross-section of US society and big corporations such as General Electric, Walmart and Apple.

Asa Hutchinson, the Arkansas Republican governor, on Wednesday backed away from signing a bill that critics said would allow discrimination against gays. His reversal came after Mike Pence, Indiana's Republican governor, responded to a huge outcry by asking the legislature to fix a similar law.

General Electric chief executive Jeffrey Immelt on Wednesday told Mr Pence in a letter that he was "very concerned" about the impact the law could have on GE and its employees, saying: "Diverse thinking from employees with varied backgrounds, styles and experiences results in more effective ideas."

The Indiana and Arkansas bills have reignited a furious debate about the balance between religious freedom and civil rights. Most of the potential Republican presidential candidates have backed the Indiana law.

John Weaver, a Republican strategist, said the stances of the Republican White House hopefuls might help in the primaries but risked hurting them in the general election. He said the Republican party needed to take on board with more urgency the shifting demographics and social trends in America.

"This is not Dwight Eisenhower's America any more," said Mr Weaver.

Mr Hutchinson said the bill was "divisive because our nation remains split on how to balance the diversity of our culture with the traditions and firmly held religious convictions". On Wednesday, he asked the legislature to craft a new bill that made clear that companies and individuals could not discriminate.

Gregory Angelo, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, a pro-gay conservative group, said the Indiana and Arkansas controversy had placed potential candidates in the position of having to answer a question they would rather have avoided because of the complications for the election.

<

The tabular content relating to this article is not available to view. Apologies in advance for the inconvenience caused.

Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster who is working with Marco Rubio, the Florida senator eyeing a presidential campaign, said the Republican party needed to grapple with the issue of same-sex relationships because the country, including a majority of young Republicans, were in support.

Speaking at an event sponsored by Christian Science Monitor, Mr Ayres said the US was headed towards a point where "any political candidate who is perceived as anti-gay at the presidential level will never connect with people under 30 years old".

Mr Hutchinson pointed to the dramatic change in the perception of gay people in the US when he said on Wednesday that there was "clearly a generational gap on this issue". He revealed that his own son had signed a petition asking the governor to veto the bill.

Bill Clinton signed a religious freedom law in 1993 after Congress overwhelming supported the measure, which was aimed at protecting the rights of religious minorities, such as Native Americans.

As US courts have knocked down bans on same-sex marriage in recent years, conservatives have pushed back on what they say is an infringement of their constitutional religious rights. Later this month, the Supreme Court will hear a case challenging bans on same-sex marriage in several states, paving the way for a ruling that most experts agree will resolve the issue nationally.

On Wednesday, Mr Hutchinson asked lawmakers to amend the legislation to make it mirror a less controversial national law. He said he would consider executive action to introduce protections for gay people if the legislature did not respond.

Tyson Foods, the meat producer and second biggest employer in Arkansas, urged the state legislature to ensure that the final bill "protects and preserves our religious freedom, will not allow discriminatory practices in the workplace and does not create further damage to our state's reputation".

@DimiSevastopulo

[email protected]

© The Financial Times Limited 2015. All rights reserved.
FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd.
Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
Euro2day.gr is solely responsible for providing this translation and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation