FFRF is calling on the governors of Connecticut and Virginia to take the lead in repealing their states’ versions of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. While thanking Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe for speaking out against Indiana’s RFRA law, FFRF points out that their states also have objectionable RFRA laws on the books.
Malloy banned state-funded travel to Indiana, saying, “We cannot sit idly by and do nothing while laws are enacted that will turn back the clock.” Connecticut’s RFRA law is even broader than Indiana’s in that it bans any “burden” of a person’s exercise of religion without a compelling governmental interest, instead of requiring the burden to be “substantial.” FFRF sent him a letter April 1.
McAuliffe invited Indiana businesses to come to Virginia, where, ironically, there is also a RFRA law in place. “The executive order you signed to protect state employees from discrimination is an excellent start. But it does not protect all citizens. The fact is, your state has had a law nearly identical to Indiana’s in place for eight years,” wrote FFRF Co-Presidents Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker in their letter to McAuliffe.
“The Religious Freedom Restoration Act is now used not as a shield, but as a sword by the religious majority and corporations to discriminate against minority groups,” charges FFRF.
