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Gen Con to stay in Indianapolis through 2021

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – A large gamers convention that threatened to leave Indianapolis during intense public debate over LGBT rights has signed a contract that will keep the event in the city through 2021.

Gen Con and city tourism officials announced Tuesday that the convention was extending its contract an additional year. Gen Con is one of the largest U.S. gamers conventions, with more than 200,000 tickets sold for the multi-day event each year.

Convention organizers threatened to leave the city in 2015, amid a national uproar over religious objections legislation approved by Republican Gov. Mike Pence and the GOP-dominated Legislature.

Critics said the law sanctioned discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people on religious grounds. Lawmakers made changes to the law, though some critics maintain it wasn’t enough.