Mike Pence still hoping to preserve the right to discriminate against LGBT Americans

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and basically everyone in the state knows that something has to be done next legislative session in order to repair the state's image after Hoosier lawmakers passed legislation guaranteeing the right to discriminate against LGBT Americans.

So now Pence and his cronies are considering legislation—similar to what Utah passed earlier this year—that would still ensure the right to discriminate in public accommodations.

A source close to those meetings said the governor has reportedly been discussing what's known as the "Utah Compromise" – a Utah law that prohibits discrimination in housing and employment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, but doesn't create a special class for other purposes. 

Yeah, that's not gonna cut it. The Utah law only worked in Utah because its laws around public accommodations and religious organizations are so peculiar—as explained here.

People who are actually trying to right the ship in Indiana for the state's business community aren't buying it.

“After RFRA,” said former Angie’s List chief Bill Oesterle, “that’s a horrible half-solution.”

Legislation modeled after the Utah law, he said, would be “completely unpalatable to me.” And lawmakers, he added, would be naive to think those weaker laws would be enough to repair the state’s battered reputation.

He, and others including Eli Lilly & Co. and the NCAA, say they want stronger protections of LGBT rights than the Utah compromise afforded — including in businesses open to the public.

Right. That's called equality—when everyone has the same access to the public marketplace. And that's exactly what Mike "I abhor discrimination" Pence is hoping to avoid.