Parks and Recreation put the final "Park Closes at Sunset" sign up after six seasons this year, but Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler), the most tireless, chipper, over-organized parks department advocate the city of Pawnee, Indiana, or the world has ever seen, is still a Hilary Clinton Democrat who fought for the rights of gay penguins to wed early on in the show's run. She would be devastated to know that her home state has adopted what is essentially a "license to discriminate" against LGBTs with its Religious Freedom Bill. We're sure she'd be just as happy to know that the following companies have chosen to stand up to discrimination and #BoycottIndiana.
1. Amazon
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Amazon has officially announced that it will be pulling out of the Indy Big Data conference in May. And although many of its employees were scheduled to speak at the conference, Amazon will not be attending in any capacity.
2. Yelp
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While Yelp does not have any corporate headquarters in Indiana, CEO Jeremy Stoppelman did issue an open letter to all states considering similar freedom of religion laws stating that the company does not at all endorse such legislation. In this letter, Stoppelman states that “Yelp will make every effort to expand its corporate presence only in states that do not have these laws allowing for discrimination on the books.”
3. Twitter
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Shortly after Governor Pence signed the bill, Twitter’s policy account tweeted “We’re disappointed to see state bills that enshrine discrimination. These bills are unjust and bad for business. We support #EqualityForAll.”
4. Angie’s List
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Set to break ground this week, Angie’s List cancelled the expansion of their headquarters in Indiana, stating "we are putting the 'Ford Building Project' on hold until we fully understand the implications of the freedom restoration act on our employees, both current and future.” They are already looking for alternative locations.
5. Salesforce
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A (could have been) large player in the tech-heavy city of Indianapolis, Salesforce tweeted that they are cancelling entirely any programs that require their customers or employees to travel to Indiana.
6. Nascar
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Somewhat surprisingly, Nascar too issued a statement condemning the bill and pledging not to use this new freedom of discrimination to turn anyone away from their events. While they are not pulling out of Indiana, they are taking a public stand against the bill. We’ll take it.
7. Indiana University
Indiana University, obviously unable to relocate, issued a release on March 29th reaffirming their commit to equality despite the state’s new legislation. The President of the university enumerated many groups that he would not tolerate discrimination against.
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