150 businesses in group pushing for Indiana LGBT protections

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A coalition of 150 Indiana businesses said Wednesday that the absence of a state law guaranteeing LGBT civil rights protections could hamper the ability of companies to draw talented workers, harming the state economy.

The issue of expanding civil rights protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people has dogged lawmakers ever since a national uproar last spring over the divisive religious objections law, which some said could sanction discrimination against LGBT people.

[...] in the aftermath, business groups and other supporters of gay and lesbian rights have pushed for a statewide ban on disicimination in housing, employment and public accommodation based on a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.