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Malloy Calls Indiana's Governor A 'Bigot' In MSNBC Appearance

FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. -- A day after signing an executive order banning state-funded travel to Indiana, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy took to the airwaves Tuesday morning to explain his decision, further blasting the "bigotry" shown by that state and its governor. 

Gov. Dannel Malloy explains why he banned state-backed travel to Indiana over the religious freedom law backlash. He says Gov. Mike Pence isn't a "stupid man, but has done stupid things."

Photo Credit: msnbcleanforward
Gov. Dannel Malloy signs the executive order Monday in his office.

Gov. Dannel Malloy signs the executive order Monday in his office.

Photo Credit: Office of Gov. Dannel Malloy

Malloy signed the travel ban after Indiana enacted the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which allows businesses to deny services to individuals or groups if it is a burden on strongly held religious beliefs. The law is widely seen as discriminatory and targeted against LGBT people and others. 

In an interview on MSNBC, co-host Mika Brzezinski quoted Malloy as calling the law "disturbing, disgraceful and downright discriminatory."

"That describes how we feel about this law in Connecticut," Malloy said. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence "is not a stupid man, but he has done a stupid thing. Signing this law and, quite frankly, promoting this law ... was an incredibly stupid thing for him to do "

Pence had "three homophobic men" standing next to him when he signed this bill, Malloy said. "When you see a bigot, you have to call him on it."

A total of 20 other states have similar religious freedom laws, but Malloy pointed out the differences. The law passed in 1993 in Connecticut  "does not say to a company that you can discriminate, you can refuse to serve someone, you can refuse to allow them into your business.this law in Indiana was promoted to do exactly that," Malloy said. 

"They knew what they were doing. And what they were doing was deciding that they were going to make it legal to refuse to serve gay men and women." 

Malloy made the comparison that a gay person in a military uniform could be discriminated against and be denied service in a coffee shop in Indiana.

"Because you're gay, even though you are wearing the uniform of the United States of America, I'm not going to serve you," he said. "That was the intent of this law. They knew what they were doing. Someone needs to call them on it."

Read the original story on the issue here on the Daily Voice. The story has more than 60 comments, and a vote by readers shows that 56 percent agree with the travel ban, 38 percent disagree and 6 percent don't understand it.

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