HB 707 causes controversy, displays Jindal’s hypocrisy

By Mason Harrison
Contributing Writer

The debate over religious freedom laws made its way to Louisiana this spring after a state lawmaker introduced House Bill 707, the Marriage and Conscience Act, that would allow business owners to deny service to would-be patrons on the basis of the owner’s personal religious or social beliefs. Bills like these have garnered national media attention in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.

But a House panel rejected the measure on a 10-2 vote May 19, with tourism officials and business leaders urging lawmakers not to advance the bill as other states grapple with the issue. In a statement from the city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, tourism advocates told lawmakers that while officials are “deeply committed to…religious freedom,” no law should “provide anyone the right to discriminate.” The New Orleans Tourism and Marketing Corporation calls the bill “unnecessary and misguided.”

The measure, which is backed by Gov. Bobby Jindal, was authored by Rep. Mike Johnson, a Bossier Parish Republican, who says the bill “if enacted would protect a Louisiana citizen or business from being punished by the state simply for abiding by their sincerely held religious beliefs about marriage.” Critics, however, say the bill is largely aimed at licensing discrimination against gays and lesbians.

Johnson’s comments are featured in a four-minute video promoting the bill on the website of the Louisiana Family Forum, a conservative Baton Rouge-based group backing what it calls “traditional values.” More than 80 percent of visitors to the group’s website, in an unscientific poll, asked lawmakers to withstand pressure from local and state civil liberties groups to kill the bill before it comes up for a vote.

In 2010, Louisiana lawmakers passed a religious freedom bill barring government intervention in the affairs of business owners who opt not to engage in commerce that would violate their religious consciences. But HB 707 goes farther as the country braces for a possible decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that could legalize same-sex marriage nationwide. The bill addresses religious freedom specifically as it relates to a marriage, allowing entrepreneurs to legally opt out of doing business with same-sex couples or be obligated to provide services to potential clients who may request services for same-sex nuptials.

But Louisiana lawmakers failed to adopt the bill this session unlike other states where similar bills received national pushback. This spring Indiana lawmakers enacted a religious freedom bill signed by Republican Gov. Mike Pence. The bill gained national attention and garnered wide support from Republican leaders, including several GOP candidates running for party’s presidential nomination in 2016.

But Jindal, also an expected candidate for the GOP nomination, issued an executive order last week allowing the state agencies that fall under the executive branch to perform state business as if HB 707 were in effect. The order gained national media attention but does not affect private businesses or local governments. The measure will expire when Jindal leaves office and can be jettisoned by a new governor.

A similar bill in Arkansas also received national criticism and was revamped after the state’s governor recounted a conversation with his son, a strong supporter of gay and lesbian civil rights, which altered his thinking. But Arkansas and Indiana are outliers in the debate over religious freedom laws as the political landscape over gay rights changes. More than a dozen states have religious freedom restoration acts, preventing in some form or fashion government prosecution of conscientious religious objections.

Johnson’s bill is slated for review at a later date, but backers doubt the measure will come up for consideration before the current legislative session ends. Johnson promises to introduce the bill next session.

This article originally published in the May 25, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.