Question Of The Day: How Will Indiana's "Religious Freedom" Bill Affect Subaru?
The state of Indiana has just signed a new bill ostensibly designed to safeguard “religious freedom”. Those opposed to it claim that it will lead to discrimination against LGBT individuals. So what does this mean for Subaru?
Subaru’s entire U.S. manufacturing base is based in Lafayette, about 60 miles outside of Indianapolis. The Japanese auto maker is expanding their plant to help meet growing demand for their cars in the United States, as the car buying public grows increasingly receptive to the brand’s AWD-centric lineup of cars and SUVs.
But one of Subaru’s core constituencies has been the LGBT community. Jokes about their likelihood of owning a Subaru have become commonplace – and resulted in the downfall of our former EIC. Businesses like Salesforce.com have decided to boycott the state, while the NCAA, which hosts the Final Four in Indianapolis, has expressed its concerns over the bill.
I’ll be curious to see how Subaru responds to the bill. It’s reasonable to expect that a good portion of their customers beyond the LGBT community will be unhappy with it as well.
More by Derek Kreindler
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Last post baby for the WIN!
I come to TTAC for entertainment ... This was certainly entertertaining
I don't think any corporations will be bothered by this law they will just ignore it and treat all customers the same regardless of sexual preference. Subaru is not going to care if you are heterosexual or gay but that you are a customer. Most businesses will not use religious beliefs as a basis to serve a customer and will not ask or care what your sexual preference is which is the way it should be. A more effective way is for anyone who does not like the practices of a business is to not buy anything from them and if you feel that is not enough then boycott their business. Just like the civil rights movements of the past that would boycott businesses in the past with discriminatory practices it would be better to boycott that business openly and by a large group. Hit them in the pocketbook where it hurts the most.
In a case like this, the best thing to do is arm both parties, throw them into a locked room and let the victor decide public policy. Seriously, there are so many theoretical scenarios that it's hard to go over each and every one. Personally, I think if the only pharmacist in town doesn't want to serve gay people, then that's a big problem. On the other hand, if one restaurant out of many doesn't want to serve gay people, let the owner hoist themselves on their own petard. This is a crappy situation between a rock and a hard place. My real question to Gov. Pence is what situations in Indiana could have possibly necessitated such a law to be passed and why it had to be signed in private. Why did Mitch Daniels (whom I liked as a governor and would have loved to see run) not think it was necessary? I've never judged an entire state or even nation of people because of its government and I won't start now. Just as Jan Brewer or Evan Mecham isn't Arizona, Mike Pence isn't Indiana, and nor is the equally hysterical Indiana State Legislator Vanessa Summers, who accused her GOP colleague's 18 month child of being racist. Both are pandering to the lowest common denominator, people who think they're being discriminated against just because they don't think their butts are being sufficiently kissed to their liking. I'm religious and active in my church. However, what Pence is doing doesn't appeal to me at all. I would have left the GOP over this had I not already over the ridiculous letter to Iran and Boehner's sophomoric taunting of Jewish Democratic Congressmembers who didn't want to attend his stunt with Netanyahu. If Pence is trying to get his name out there for 2016 either as a backup candidate in case everyone else in the GOP implodes (that's a severe possibility, seeing how donors inexplicably thought people would want another Bush over Romney for the mainstream GOP candidate and instead are pissing off liberals, conservatives and moderates), then he'll join Michael Dukakis and Thomas Dewey on the shoulda-woulda-coulda train. This isn't 2004 or 2008, doubling down on social issues on a national level isn't going to change the results McCain and Romney achieved in the last two elections.