Judge to hear conservatives' lawsuit challenging RFRA fix

Update: The case is scheduled to be heard 9 a.m. Wednesday. The original hearing date on Aug. 16 was postponed due to a conflicting bench trial in the courtroom of Judge Steven R. Nation, who is assigned to the case. The hearing will take place in Hamilton County Superior Court No. 1, 1 Hamilton Square in Noblesville, Room 345.

This story was originally published Aug. 15:

Indiana cities, including Indianapolis and Carmel, are pushing back against a lawsuit challenging local ordinances that protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination.

The cities say the lawsuit, filed by conservative advocacy groups, improperly argues hypothetical "what if" situations when religious rights have not actually been infringed.

But the conservative groups counter that those city ordinances could have a chilling effect on religious freedom, particularly for evangelical Christians who oppose same-sex marriage and LGBT rights.

The cities named in the lawsuit — Indianapolis, Carmel, Bloomington and Columbus, which have nondiscrimination ordinances that include LGBT protections — have asked a Hamilton Superior Court judge to dismiss the case. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday morning.

The Indiana Family Institute and American Family Association of Indiana filed the lawsuit last December, seeking to bring back the state's controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act in its original form in order to provide heightened protections for religious rights. Represented by prominent conservative attorney Jim Bopp, the groups want the court to throw out the RFRA "fix."

Conservative groups' lawsuit says RFRA fix unconstitutional

The "fix" prevents RFRA from being used to circumvent local and state nondiscrimination laws. To the dismay of evangelical groups who lobbied for the religious objection law, the "fix" was quickly tacked onto RFRA last year to allay fears that the law could be used by religious believers to discriminate against LGBT people by denying them housing, jobs or services.

The conservative groups say the "fix" does not extend equally to all people because it allows some faiths to raise other types of religious objections but prevents Christians from raising religious objections based on their views on marriage and sexuality.

Arguing that the "fix" is unconstitutional, the conservative groups then make a claim under RFRA that local nondiscrimination ordinances place a substantial burden on their free exercise of religion — a government intrusion on religion, they say.

As education and policy nonprofits, the Indiana Family Institute, its lobbying arm and the American Family Association don't qualify for exemptions to the ordinances that are extended to religious organizations. But the groups emphasize evangelical beliefs. They say local nondiscrimination ordinances threaten their ability to limit their hiring and educational programming to only people who share their religious convictions.

Bopp did not return a call for comment. Nor did officials from the city of Indianapolis. Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard declined to comment.

In its response filed in court, the city of Indianapolis said the American Family Association has not been the subject of any complaints or investigations since the city's nondiscrimination ordinance was last amended in 2008.

The other cities say that the groups do not conduct business within their boundaries. They also say the groups are unlikely to be affected by nondiscrimination ordinances, because they do not employ enough workers to be subjected to an ordinance or their programs are not open to the public.

The conservative groups say they are posing a pre-enforcement challenge. They want to conduct voter education throughout the state, and their events are open to the public, even though they target evangelical Christians.

The cities also point out that the conservative groups did not sue the state, even though they are challenging a state law — "puzzling," they wrote in court documents.

That may allude to the politics behind it all. Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller, a Republican, has in the past fought to defend the state's ban on same-sex marriages. Republican Gov. Mike Pence also has opposed same-sex marriage and sided with religious rights over LGBT rights.

Pence, who often says he considers his evangelical Christian background essential to his politics and policies, was a close ally to the conservative groups as they lobbied for RFRA. Indiana Family Institute President Curt Smith and American Family Association of Indiana Executive Director Micah Clark posed for a photo with Pence when he signed RFRA into law.

Call IndyStar reporter Stephanie Wang at (317) 444-6184. Follow her on Twitter: @stephaniewang.

A list of local LGBT anti-discrimination ordinances in Indiana