Fan Starts Petition to Move Big Ten Football Championship Game Out of Indianapolis Because of Religious Freedom Law

The State of Indiana angered a lot of people Thursday when Governor Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Bill in to law. The law is meant to protect small business owners from being sued if their religious beliefs prevent them from providing services to anyone. The general perception of the bill is that it has opened the door wide open for businesses to discriminate against the LGBT community and anyone else they want to claim their religion is offended by.

In a world that has become more and more about inclusion for all this has angered quite a few people. The NCAA has expressed some concern over the law, and a fan is hoping this concern when presented with his petition will get the Big 10 Championship game moved out of Indianapolis.

via Twitter

Sean Burke started the petition on Change.org and it already has over 4100 supporters after one day. It reads as such:

On March 26, 2015 Governor Pence of Indiana signed into law a bill that would allow businesses to discriminate against members of the LGBT community under the guise of "religious freedom". A law such as this runs contrary to the ideals of the Big Ten Conference and puts students, fans and staff at risk of open discrimination based solely on who they love.Such law sends the message that members of the LBGT community are second class citizens contrary to the many contributions members of the LGBT community have made in areas such as science, the arts, architecture, business and not to mention sports.

The State of Indiana, as a member of the Big Ten Conference, needs to be told that it must live up to the ideals of the conference and respect all persons regardless of sex, age, religion, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

If you would like to sign the petition you can do so here.

The game has an estimated economic impact on the community of about $15 million so it would not be good for the city to lose it.

The NFL has shown some concern over the bill as well. The league has said that it will be looking in to the bill and its implications. Depending on what the league finds it could affect the city's chances to host another Super Bowl and could possibly result in the NFL looking elsewhere for the Combine to be held.

The deal to have the combine held in Indianapolis is one that historically been renewed year to year, but talks have been in progress for a multi-year deal. The economic impact of the Combine is estimated at $8.27 million

[Change.org, IndyStar]

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