Rally protests RFRA fix

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A Statehouse rally conducted Monday is meant to revive the religious freedom debate in the General Assembly.

The rally was organized by a group called the Indiana Pastors Alliance and its leader believes that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act became a gay rights bill when the governor signed the followup bill that was meant to clarify that RFRA was not a license to discriminate.

Ron Johnson told the crowd that Mike Pence failed millions of Hoosiers when he signed the second bill.

“For Christians, sexual sin can never be redefined and treated as a civil right,” he said.

At one point during the rally Johnson was interrupted by a gay rights activist who requested a hug. He complied and then went back to his intrepretation of what happened earlier this month.

“The gay mafia began the intimidation campaign,” he said, “and in blitzkrieg-like fashion, we saw what religious liberties attorneys called the Rolls Royce of RFRA, one of the strongest Religious Freedom Restoration Acts, in a week’s time was morphed into a giant lemon.”

Earlier, a much smaller group called on the governor to push for stronger civil rights protections for gays and lesbians.

It shows how the governor’s handling of the RFRA controversy has won him new enemies on both the right and the left.

Ron Johnson delivered what he called a letter of censure to the governor and leaders in the General Assembly.