Update:
The Indiana Legislature has amended the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). It does not authorize or provide a defense to discriminate based on race, color, religion, ancestry, age, national origin, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or military service, as was always the case in the City of Fort Wayne by local ordinance.
Fort Wayne is a warm and welcoming community that welcomes all visitors. We wish to assure everyone will be treated with dignity and respect while experiencing our famous Hoosier hospitality when visiting our city. We hope many of our guests will choose to visit Fort Wayne again soon.
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Since Gov. Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA),
Visit Fort Wayne has fielded several calls from our convention clients and industry partners. As such, our Executive Committee felt it was important to make a statement to affirm that our city and hospitality industry is 'open for business' without restriction or limitation.
Hoosier hospitality is about making all people feel welcome in our state. At Visit Fort Wayne, we will continue to welcome, assist, and serve all visitors to our city.
Fort Wayne is a diverse and inclusive destination that welcomes visitors from all walks of life. As such, we believe there will be no change in the hospitality and services shown to guests to our city/county. Fort Wayne will continue to serve all visitors with dignity, respect, and exceptional service. We are not aware of any Fort Wayne-based establishment that intends to change its business practices as a result of this law - other than to explicitly welcome everyone.
We are also unaware of any court decision anywhere in the country which has interpreted such a law to allow discrimination in typical public accommodations. We expect this record to continue in Indiana and we're heartened to learn that Governor Pence intends to seek clarification of the new law.
We will also assist our industry partners in getting "Open for Business" stickers for their businesses.
For any additional information on this issue, please contact Visit Fort Wayne President/CEO Dan O'Connell at dan@visitfortwayne.com or Marketing and Communications Specialist John Felts at john@visitfortwayne.com.
