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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

Language revising RFRA proposed

The Indiana Republican leaders are writing an additional measure into the Religious Freedom Restoration Act that would grant additional protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Hoosiers.

A copy of the new RFRA language was given to Gov. Mike Pence on Wednesday morning, the Indianapolis Star reported. ?It will clarify that RFRA cannot be used as a defense to discriminate against individuals based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The draft of the proposal will be rolled out at 9 a.m. today and will go to caucus at 9:30 a.m., the Indianapolis Star reported Wednesday.

The language doesn’t establish LGBT individuals as a protected class of citizens in Indiana, nor will it repeal any portion of law, both of which Republican leaders have said they will not support.

The General Assembly will meet neither Friday in honor of Good Friday nor Monday for the NCAA Final Four.

“It’s still our hope to have this completely resolved tomorrow,” Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives Brian Bosma said. “But that takes work and a lot of discussion, and we’re actively talking not just with the governor, but with members of the corporate and the sports community ... I think we’re moving in the right direction to clarify and preserve religious freedom and dispel the myth that this denies service to any category.”

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