Fivecoate was legally within her right to deny service to the couple, said Steve Sanders, a law professor at Indiana University. In Indiana, he said, "sexual orientation is one of those things that is protected in some places and in other places it is not."
Indiana has no statewide law protecting gay people from discrimination. It is left to individual cities and towns to decide whether to pass their own ordinances. Russiaville, where Fivecoate operates, is not covered by one, according to the Kokomo Tribune and the Indianapolis Star.
This is not the first time questions have been raised over the intersection of gay rights and religious liberties in Indiana. In 2015, then-Gov. Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Opponents of the law claimed it was an attempt to allow discrimination against the LGBT community, and it was later amended to include language stating it could not be used for that purpose by businesses and service providers.
Same-sex marriage is legal in Indiana, as it is nationwide. But gay couples aren't protected from other kinds of discrimination, Sanders said.
Pence's Indiana.
