Milwaukee's LGBT community wants UW to take a stand against new Indiana law



MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The Wisconsin Badgers mens' basketball team is doing everything it can to make a return trip to the Final Four -- which is in Indianapolis. But a new law in Indiana is drawing criticism from NCAA President Mark Emmert.

The so-called "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" potentially allows Indiana businesses to deny services based on sexual orientation. Emmert said the following in a statement:

"The NCAA national office and our members are deeply committed to providing an inclusive environment for all our events. We are especially concerned about how this legislation could affect our student-athletes and employees. We will work diligently to assure student-athletes competing in, and visitors attending, next week's Men's Final Four in Indianapolis are not impacted negatively by this bill. Moving forward, we intend to closely examine the implications of this bill and how it might affect future events as well as our workforce,"


Karen Gotzler is the Executive Director of the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center. She says the NCAA got it right by making the statement.

"They want to be an inclusive organization. Of course, I want them to be an inclusive organization too because I love NCAA sports just as much as anybody else," said Gotzler.

In light of the new law, the NCAA is considering its future in Indiana. Two states away, Gotzler hopes Wisconsin advances to the Final Four -- and then the university makes a public stand.

"I am very confident that they do not support this bill and I hope they will come out strongly opposed to this," said Gotzler.

Companies like Apple, organizations like the NCAA, and even President Barack Obama say the bill "doesn't seem like a step in the right direction." Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has said "if he thought the bill was discriminatory," he would not have signed it.