NEWS

George Takei 'outraged over Indiana Freedom to Discriminate law'

Leigh Hedger
Actor and director George Takei spoke at Clowes Hall, Monday, Feb. 16, 2015, as part of Butler University's Celebration of Diversity Distinguished Lecture Series.

In a week that saw diverse voices lining up in opposition to Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act, actor George Takei also took to social media to condemn the bill.

After Gov. Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law Thursday, Takei took to Twitter saying, "Outraged over Indiana Freedom to Discriminate law, signed today. LGBTs aren't 2nd class citizens."

His tweet included the hashtags #BoycottIndiana and #Pence. Use of #BoycottIndiana spiked after his tweet. As of 4:00 p.m., both hashtags were in the top four Twitter trends nationwide according to Trendsmap.com.

Takei made a longer statement on his Facebook page Thursday, saying, "(Gov. Pence) has made it clear that LGBT couples, like Brad and me, are now unwelcome in his state. The notion that this bill was not driven by animus against our community is belied by the record and frankly insulting."

Takei said he wants "socially responsible companies" to cease doing business in Indiana.

"It is a sad day for the Hoosier state, and indeed for the many good people of Indiana, for whom this law now stands as a terrible blight upon that state's reputation," he said.

On Tuesday, he had posted about the bill on his Facebook page, which as of Thursday had been shared more than 12,000 times. In it, he condemned the bill for "(harkening) back to a time where our society was divided, and people of color were banned from white establishments."

He said that if the bill took effect, he would not attend events held in Indianapolis. He specifically mentioned Gen Con.

"Many fans here are gamers, Governor Pence, and we will demand the convention move out of your state," he wrote.

Earlier in the week Gen Con sent a letter to Gov. Mike Pence threatening to move the convention out of Indianapolis. The convention currently is the city's largest convention, attracting 56,000 attendees to Downtown,

Takei was at Butler University last month where he talked about his own experience with discrimination as a Japanese-American youth in two U.S. interment camps during World War II. At the event he also shared his thoughts on the "religious freedom" bill.

"Faith should not be used as a knife to discriminate," he said, "and that's what these people are doing, using their 'so-called' religion to discriminate against people."

He said opening a business means opening it for "everyone in your community, not to say, 'I pick this person not that person.'"

"It's a discriminatory so-called faith," he said. "No law should be based on that. We have a strict line of demarcation between church and state in our American democracy."

Follow digital editor Leigh Hedger on Twitter at @lhedger.