In response to Indiana Governor Mike Pence’s signature to the ill-named Religious Freedom Restoration Act Thursday morning, allowing anyone to use their religious beliefs to claim that they have a right to refuse to follow anti-discrimination laws, Assembly Member O’Donnell issued the following statement:

“Indiana’s law legalizes discrimination against LGBT individuals and other minorities under the false veil of ‘religious freedom.’ People of conscience must not stand idly by as our brothers and sisters in Indiana are turned into second class citizens, and hard-fought anti-discrimination laws are set aside. New York, the state that overnight doubled the number of people who could legally marry a same sex partner by passing Marriage Equality in 2011, needs to continue to be a leader in protesting discrimination in all its forms. I call on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo to join San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee in banning all city- and state-funded trips to Indiana. I applaud the many major corporations, civil rights advocates and public figures that have already sent a strong message that they will not do business in a state that legalizes discrimination. Our hard-earned money cannot be used to support bigoted practices.

“This law comes on the heels of an important victory for the national Marriage Equality movement. Indiana legalized same-sex marriage in October 2014. This is a hate-filled reaction to that law. Social change is not linear, often involving one step forward, two steps back. However, we must keep the momentum moving forward by speaking up and using our economic and political power to express the overwhelming will of the majority of Americans; equal protections of all people regardless of their sexual orientation, gender, race or religion.”