IBM cancels ribbon-cutting because of Bobby Jindal’s anti-gay executive order

BATON ROUGE, La. — IBM has cancelled Monday’s ribbon-cutting for its new National Service Center in Baton Rouge because of Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal’s executive order protecting those who object to same-sex marriage.

WAFB-TV reports:

The event on June 22 had been reserved for months, according to several city leaders, including Davis Rhorer, executive director of the Downtown Development District.

The technology giant IBM voiced “strong opposition” to Louisiana’s so-called religious freedom legislation as far back as mid-April.

In a letter to the governor, IBM executives said the legislation cut at the very heart of what their company stands for, equal rights and opportunity for everyone, discrimination for no one. The letter implored Jindal not to support any agenda that protected discrimination against LGBT people.

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The Republican governor’s May 19 order came hours after a House legal committee voted down a divisive religious objections bill that Jindal, who is courting Christian conservatives for a likely presidential bid, had made a top priority.

Jindal’s order seeks to enforce the spirit of the failed bill.