Cities' appeal denied in RFRA 'fix' case
The Indiana Court of Appeals declined Friday to take up four cities' appeal of a lower court decision to allow a legal challenge to proceed against nondiscrimination ordinances.
The case returns to Hamilton Superior Court to debate the merits of the lawsuit: whether the Religious Freedom Restoration Act "fix" and city ordinances banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity are unconstitutionally unfair to conservative Christian groups.
Indiana Family Institute president Curt Smith wrote in an email to supporters that he was "heartened" that the case was advancing.
In their request for appeal, the cities of Indianapolis, Carmel, Bloomington and Columbus had argued that conservative advocacy groups did not have the standing to sue, in part because their claim was hypothetical. Indiana Family Institute and American Family Association of Indiana, the cities said, "were not actually being affected by — and were unlikely to be affected by" nondiscrimination ordinances.
"While the debate surrounding RFRA and the RFRA "fix" in Indiana garnered national attention, it is not a matter the trial court has the authority to consider in the context of this case," the cities wrote in their request.
The cities were appealing the decision of Hamilton Superior Judge Steven R. Nation, who rejected their claims in November.
Conservative advocacy groups brought the lawsuit in 2015 after the contentious debate in Indiana over RFRA and its amendment. Championed by then-Gov. Mike Pence, the state law was pitched by supporters as heightened protections for religious freedom, similar to the federal RFRA. But it was seen by others as providing a "license to discriminate" against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and lawmakers moved quickly to rewrite the law so it could not trump civil rights laws.
Indiana Family Institute and American Family Association of Indiana said in the lawsuit that, with the "fix," RFRA discriminates against conservative Christians who do not support same-sex relationships. The groups said they have not expanded or offered certain programs in fear of running afoul of city ordinances that protect gays and lesbians from discrimination.
State civil rights law does not include sexual orientation or gender identity as protected classes. In 2016, the state legislature debated whether to add those protections, but did not move a proposal forward. Several municipalities around Indiana passed local ordinances prohibiting LGBT discrimination in the lead-up and follow-up to that debate.
Call IndyStar reporter Stephanie Wang at (317) 444-6184. Follow her on Twitter: @stephaniewang.
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