National media continue to fume and storm over an Indiana religious freedom law that some say would allow legal discrimination against gays, but two conservatives in the media are calling for calm. And they’re gay.
Gabriel Malor, an attorney in Washington, D.C., and a writer for the right-leaning Federalist website, recently wrote that media reaction to the “innocuous” law has been “depressing.”
“I think the coverage has been deeply misleading about what the law does and says,” Malor told the Washington Examiner media desk. He said that was aided by Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who signed the law and failed to articulate a defense for it on Sunday news shows.
Proponents of the law, including virtually every Republican who is planning a run for the White House in 2016, say it merely protects business owners from being forced by the government to provide a service if it conflicts with their religious beliefs.
Pence has since called on the state legislature to revise the law and add language to it that explicitly states it will not legalize discrimination. Republican lawmakers said Thursday that they have revised the bill and are working to authorize a new version.
“People were unprepared on the right to point out how innocuous these bills have been for 20 years,” Malor said. “These laws are extraordinarily popular. More Americans than not support businesses being able to work within their religious conscience. ”
Richard Grenell, a conservative commentator and former foreign policy adviser to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, is also a critic of how the law has been reported on by the news media.
“Both sides are right and wrong,” Grenell told the Examiner. “We can easily have both religious freedom protections and protections against discrimination. In the real world, this isn’t a problem. The facts show that normal Christians bake cakes for gay people and gays understand that some religious types aren’t going to perform their weddings. The overwhelming majority of Americans see this as a manufactured crisis.”
“Political reporters, like most every issue they get involved with, are either unable or unwilling to explain the nuances,” said Grenell.
