Transcript
Narrator 0:00
On Thursday, March 26 2015, in a private ceremony, Governor Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law. The law prohibits state or local governments from significantly burdening citizens’ ability to practice their religion without a compelling reason for such a limitation, and the state must provide a non-restrictive means of compliance before so doing. Critics throughout the city, state and the entire country reacted immediately and did so quite vocally, because many feared the law’s potential use as a discriminatory tool against the LGBT community. In the ensuing controversy between the laws more liberal opponents and typically conservative supporters, some legal experts argue that this act has been incorrectly appropriated by both sides of the same sex rights issue, taking a law meant to protect the rights of religious minorities and using it as hyperbolic ammunition in a political battle. Thus, the debate hinges on which angle of interpretation is most important: what the religious freedom law actually legally permits, what the intent is behind the law, or what people think the law means.
Narrator 1:15
When cities built on tourism and reputation are confronted with political events that create controversy within and unfavorable perceptions without, civic leaders are placed in the precarious position of guiding their city through the storm. At the Richard M. Fairbanks Symposium held in downtown Indianapolis on April 1, 2015, civic leaders discussed how to respond to such crises. At the time of the Symposium, the city was in the midst of hosting the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four, which normally would have been a time for the city to bask in the spotlight. Ryan Vaughn, president of Indiana Sports Corp; Mark Miles, CEO of the Hulman Corporation; and Mayor Greg Ballard, were all leading critics of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. They responded in the midst of a crisis that had come to a head less than a week before the Symposium was held. Ryan Vaughn begins by explaining why the LGBT implications of this Act present a problem for Indianapolis.
Ryan Vaughn 2:16
We have built a national and international reputation on our ability to deliver the world’s premier sporting events with seamless execution and genuine Hoosier hospitality, and that has been our competitive edge, along with other factors, for many, many years. And we are now in the midst of a crisis where our brand, hospitality and our ethic as Hoosiers, being welcoming and open is under attack, justifiable or not, for being unwelcoming.
Narrator 2:55
Vaughn further states that Indianapolis will be able to repair and improve its position by confronting the problem head on with immediate action and by continuing to effectively implement its sports strategy as a unification tool,
Ryan Vaughn 3:08
There is no question in my mind that what has happened over the last five days is that the generational issue of whether or not we provide civil liberties to same sex couples and gender identity individuals has to be addressed, and that issue is becoming forefront on our doorstep. Change can be very disruptive, and it’s being very disruptive now, but we have a stage and an opportunity to lead in this country, because the Final Four is here, and the eyes are focused on us. How we react to this will define who we are in the place of this global discussion and argument. And I mean that in a sincere way. There’s there’s one quote hanging on my wall, and it’s from Nelson Mandela. It is the first piece of literature I sent out to my entire staff and to everyone at the Sports Corporation. I wish I had it memorized. I did not, but the essence of the quote is that sports can overcome discrimination, sports can overcome government, sports can overcome the differences we have with one another. And it was racial differences that he was discussing at the time and racial prejudice that sports was addressing. But this issue is the race issue of my generation, and that conversation has to happen now. It’s happening now, and how we react to, it will define whether or not we’re going to be successful.
Narrator 4:43
Mayor Greg Ballard agrees with Vaughn’s stance on the necessity of visible action on the part of leaders, and he emphasizes that Indy’s residents must work together to send clear, positive messages to soften the effects of this crisis.
Greg Ballard 4:58
We’ve all been doing what we need to do in partnership with each other. It’s not like we’re all out there by ourselves. We meet pretty regularly. We talk to each other pretty regularly with what is happening. Talk about our brand and what we have to do to make sure. And when we held that press conference on Monday, which locally, was received extremely well, and I think nationally too, we had a series of tweets because, I mean, just can’t, you can’t get away from the social media aspect of all this and how that affects you. And I must tell you several, several organizations in the city would probably tell you the same thing, my Twitter account has never seen activity like this. One of my tweets, the one that says Indianapolis will not be defined by this, has been retweeted over 1000 times so far. My tweets are usually retweeted about 10,15 times. So there’s an order of magnitude that’s going on here. The other one, the other three that we sent out, you know, probably three or 400 times. About that particular one was 1000 times. And I think that’s how all of us who are working on this issue feel. But at the same time, you know, I know the three of us up here from Indianapolis are kind of results-oriented people. It has to get done because there is already damage. It would be astronomically worse if it doesn’t get done. So we want to make sure that it does get done, but we’ll have some repairing to do, no matter what, and we just hope it’s a little bit of repairing over a couple years and a fair amount of money, and not something else so. Frankly, I need to thank all of you who’ve been very supportive, very kind, in us Mark said us sticking together has been has been noted and and everybody for the State House, hopefully has seen that Indianapolis and other communities are really, really, really upset.
Narrator 7:09
As Hulman CEO Mark Miles contemplated the damage he believed RFRA [Religious Freedom Restoration Act] had inflicted on Indianapolis image and reputation, he looked out to an audience that included mentors and longtime city leaders, including Judge Theodore Boehm and former Indianapolis Deputy Mayor David Frick, wondering if generations of hard work might be undone, Miles was both optimistic and realistic.
Mark Miles 7:32
The work to get us out of this is going to be incredible. The damage is real.
Ted Frantz 7:41
This podcast was produced by the Institute for Civic Leadership and Mayoral Archives and the Department of Communication at the University of Indianapolis. It is made possible by the support of the Richard M Fairbanks Foundation, Indiana Humanities, and the Lily Endowment. For more information, please see our website, uindy.edu/mayoral.