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John Stewart Talks About "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" Legislation for Indiana and North Carolina
In case you missed the fracas, Gov. Mike Pence signed a "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" on March 26 that was widely interpreted to allow businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ customers
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Montana’s Tech Industry Can’t Afford Discrimination
I love to brag about Montana. The current environment for the tech industry in Montana is outstanding because of Montana’s strong business climate and that Montana has always been an inclusive state.
As a technology business advocate and business owner, I simply can’t understand why state’s like North Carolina and Indiana think discriminatory laws are good for business and actually benefit their economies.
The truth is, we’ve only seen evidence to the contrary. So far, Indiana has already taken a $60 million dollar hit to their economy and that is just 12 months after adopting their discriminatory law. These laws from Legislatures who claim they are Republican and represent the interests of business, hurt small and large businesses alike. Businesses in North Carolina spoke out against the law and threatened to leave. Many tech companies including Google, Facebook, Apple, Twitter, AirBNB, and Paypal all spoke out against this type of discrimination. http://www.matr.net/article-70987.html while states and cities are now prohibiting their employees from traveling to the state.
The reason being, the tech industry relies on young, innovative, creative minds to continue finding new ways to expand and grow. These young minds don’t want to be surrounded by discrimination. They come from people pushing the boundaries of what we can imagine and do. They come from all walks of life and every race, gender, sexual orientation and religion. This innovation comes from people on the autism spectrum and people with physical and mental disabilities, which stimulate their creativity and drive to solve problems.
Montana has never been a place of discrimination, and its one of the reasons why our tech industry is booming.
But if we want technology to continue to grow, to continue to solve the problems facing our country, we need reassurance from our elected leaders, or those who want be an elected leader, that they won’t put their own social or religious agenda ahead of the importance of our economy. One of the founding precepts of this country we love so much is separation of church and state to prevent just this type of legislatively supported religious belief which includes some and excludes many others.
We’ve seen that reassurance in Gov. Bullock who just recently signed an Executive Order banning workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
But Mr. Greg Gianforte is singing a very different, and terrifying tune. All we’ve seen from Mr. Gianforte is evidence that he actually would put his own personal radical religious agenda ahead of ensuring the business environment in Montana remains conducive for our growing tech industry.
Mr. Gianforte fought against Bozeman’s non-discrimination ordinance, even saying he believes discrimination is good for business. It was reported that he donated millions to anti-LGBT groups, even a known hate group. And worst of all, now he refuses to publicly denounce discrimination and the anti-LGBT laws we’re seeing in Indiana and North Carolina.
"Homosexual advocates try to argue that businesses are leery of locating in towns that aren’t friendly to homosexuals. I believe the opposite is truer," Gianforte wrote in an email to Bozeman Mayor Jeff Krauss and Bozeman city council members. http://www.matr.net/article-68451.html
The bottom line is that we don’t want Montana to be Indiana or North Carolina. Montana’s tech industry is doing well, and we simply cant afford the economic devastation of discrimination.
Russ Fletcher
Montana Associated Technology Roundtable
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