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Indiana, Arkansas try to stem religious objections uproar

Demonstrators gather on the steps at the Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., Thursday, April 2, 2015. The measure passed in the committee. A reworked religious freedom bill passed earlier in the House Judiciary Committee. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston) Demonstrators gather on the steps at the Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., Thursday, April 2, 2015. The measure passed in the committee. A reworked religious freedom bill passed earlier in the House Judiciary Committee. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)

By Associated Press April 3, 2015 1 min read

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Leaders in Indiana and Arkansas are looking to move forward after taking different approaches to tamp down concerns about discrimination over religious objections laws.

The two governors signed bills Thursday that lawmakers hoped would quiet the national uproar over whether the laws offered a legal defense for discrimination against gays.

For Arkansas, the changes requested by Gov. Asa Hutchinson amid mounting criticism from retail giant Wal-Mart and other businesses meant revising the language to closely align with that in the 1993 federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Indiana’s solution was an amendment that put the first references to sexual orientation and gender identity into state law.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence says the law was never intended to allow discrimination and blamed the fallout on “mischaracterizations.”