Boston City Council Urges Mayor To Ban Publicly Funded Travel to Indiana, Arkansas
The Boston City Council voted unanimously Wednesday on resolutions to ban publicly funded travel to Indiana and Arkansas, in light of “religious freedom’’ legislation passed in the two states.
The resolutions, introduced by District 7 Councillor Tito Jackson, urged Mayor Marty Walsh’s administration to prohibit the use of public money for individual travel to Indiana and Arkansas. Critics say the Religious Freedom Restoration Act signed by Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and the similar bill passed by the Arkansas House allow businesses to refuse service to gays and lesbians under the guise of religious freedom.
Jackson said Boston and Massachusetts have a history of leading the nation in accommodation and inclusion of the LGBTQ community.
“These resolutions extends that leadership to where we spend our money,’’ he told Boston.com. “It’s not okay to spend city money in places that are going to discriminate against LGBTQ members of our community.’’
On Monday, Connecticut became the first state to respond to Indiana’s law, when Gov. Dan Malloy banned state-funded travel there. Councillor Stephen Murphy was the only member absent from Boston’s 12-0 vote.
On Tuesday, Pence said the law he signed — which was blasted by local media and businesses, the NCAA, and Apple CEO Tim Cook, among others — had been “smeared’’ and did not allow businesses to discriminate against anyone.
“I think there is a growing public understanding that Indiana has passed a law here that mirrors the federal law that President Clinton signed and it mirrors the laws and statutes of some 30 states,’’ said Pence in a press conference.
However, Boston At-Large Councillor Michelle Wu explained that Indiana and Arkansas’s legislation is much more sweeping than federal or state RFRA, in that it both extends the right to free exercise of religion to private for-profit businesses (not just individuals or churches) and it does not include protections for sexual orientation.
“These two states in particular open the door for discrimination,’’ Wu told Boston.com.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has since said that state lawmakers need to change their bill to exactly mirror the federal law or he will not sign it.
Jackson said he expects Mayor Walsh, a self-described “vocal early advocate for marriage equality,’’ to act on the council’s nonbinding resolution.
“It is my expectation that Mayor Walsh will do as he always done on these issues, which is stand on the side of anti-discrimination,’’ he said.
Councillor Wu said she hadn’t yet talked to the administration.
“The purpose of the resolution was to make a statement on where the Boston City Council stands,’’ she said. “We’ll see what happens next.’’
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com