LGBT alumni association calls for UCLA boycott of Indiana

A UCLA alumni association asked last week for the university to join a boycott of Indiana, following a controversial state law that makes it legal to refuse services to people based on business owners’ and employees’ religious beliefs.

UCLA’s Lambda Alumni Association, an association of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender alumni, said in a letter to the university on April 1 that it thinks the law is ambiguous and opens the door for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The law, which is called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, exists in some form in 21 states across the U.S. The legislation has caused much controversy in past weeks in the U.S. and has been referred to as an anti-gay law. San Francisco State University recently banned school-funded travel to Indiana.

In the letter, the association called for UCLA to refrain from participating in activities in Indiana as long as the new law stands. The association asked that no UCLA students, employees or alumni participate in academic and athletic activities taking place in Indiana, such as conferences. The association also asked UCLA to support nationwide petitions to keep NCAA basketball tournaments out of Indiana in the future.

NCAA held its men’s basketball championship this year in Indianapolis, and plans to have its women’s basketball championship in the city next year.

Legislators in Indiana amended the bill Thursday in response to criticism, saying the measure does not authorize a provider to refuse to offer or provide services to any member of the general public on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

In a response to the association’s letter, UCLA said it was pleased with this amendment, which the university thinks explicitly prohibits discrimination. UCLA did not state any intention to change policies regarding university involvement in Indiana.

The University of California also has no authority to restrict travel for anyone, said Brooke Converse, a spokeswoman for the UC.

The association thinks that while the amendment does not authorize discrimination, it also does not prohibit discrimination, said Dustin Church, a board member for the UCLA Lambda Alumni Association.

Church said the group thinks people affiliated with the university and traveling to Indiana are threatened by what he says is the state’s ability to discriminate.

“We thought it was best to ask for a university policy against the state because individual students and employees may not feel comfortable to step and say they don’t want to go there,” Church said. “It would be a compromising position for any student to be in.”

The alumni association plans to continue conversations with UCLA and send another letter in hopes that the university will officially oppose the law, Church said.