Businesses Coming Out Against Indiana Get Slammed for Hypocrisy

image
Published: 03 Apr, 2015
1 min read

The Washington Post created a video montage of some of the best late-night jokes surrounding the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which was recently revised by the Indiana Legislature and Governor Mike Pence to explicitly protect members of the LGBT community from discrimination.

The jokes didn't just take aim at the state or its officials, but some of the responses to the bill as well.

"The NCAA, Apple, and Yelp have all protested the law and have threatened not to expand their operations in Indiana," Seth Meyers said on NBC's The Late Night Show with Seth Meyers. "Also, Apple announced they're leaving China and the NCAA announced they're going to start paying student athletes... nah... I'm just f***ing with you."

Read Tim Cook's op-ed criticizing Indiana's new law.

Under Meyers' joke is a lingering truth about the hypocrisy that exists in such self-righteous statements from companies that do business in countries like China, where factory conditions are poor, or countries where being gay is actually illegal.

There is nothing wrong with company heads coming out against bills that opponents say could give some companies the legal justification for discriminating against members of the LGBT community or anyone. However, it comes off as a form of grandstanding because there is a level of hypocrisy to it, and there is no reason why these businesses should not be called out for this hypocrisy.

"When Tim Cook is upset about all the places that he does business because of the way they treat gays and women, he needs to withdraw from 90% of the markets that he's in, including China and Saudi Arabia," Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina recently said. "But I don't hear him being upset about that."

Read the full article from Business Insider here.

Image: Apple CEO Tim Cook / Source: ABC News

You Might Also Like

Why Mathematicians Love Ranked Choice Voting
Why Mathematicians Love Ranked Choice Voting
The Institute for Mathematics and Democracy (IMD) has released what may be the most comprehensive empirical study of ranked choice voting ever conducted. The 66-page report analyzes nearly 4,000 real-world ranked ballot elections, including some 2,000 political elections, and more than 60 million simulated ones to test how different voting methods perform....
11 Dec, 2025
-
4 min read
California flag
Quirk Silva’s Exit Sparks a High-Profile Orange County Clash, Where Independent Voters Control the Math
California’s 67th Assembly District stretches across parts of Orange and Los Angeles counties, connecting some of the region’s most dynamic and diverse suburban communities. It includes the entire cities of Cerritos, La Palma, Hawaiian Gardens, Artesia, Buena Park, and Cypress, as well as portions of Fullerton and Anaheim....
18 Dec, 2025
-
6 min read
Donald Trump
Trump Signs Order to Reclassify Cannabis to Schedule III
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Thursday that his administration will officially move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act, a decision that marks the most significant change to U.S. drug policy since the early 1970s....
18 Dec, 2025
-
2 min read