Denver’s mayor has already tussled with Trump’s reported VP pick over civil rights

“This law is just wrong, plain and simple, and we will not tacitly condone discrimination through the use of taxpayer dollars.”

(Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

staff photo
Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana. (Gage Skidmore /Flickr)

Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana reportedly will be Donald Trump's running mate. (Gage Skidmore / Flickr/ distributed under a Creative Commons license)

Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana will be Donald Trump’s running mate, IndyStar reports.

Last year, Pence signed a “religious freedom” bill, which gave stronger legal cover for religious business owners to turn down business when it conflicts with their religious beliefs.

Many people saw it as an excuse for caterers and others to deny service to gay weddings. Based on Pence’s earlier statements, it’s pretty clear that he does fear some kind of “gay agenda.”

“Individual pastors … could be charged or be subject to intimidation for simply expressing a Biblical worldview on the issue of homosexual behavior,” he said in 2009, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Mayor Michael Hancock denounced the law.

“This law is just wrong, plain and simple, and we will not tacitly condone discrimination through the use of taxpayer dollars,” Hancock said in a news release. He even temporarily banned city-funded travel to Indiana in protest. (The ban was lifted when Indiana amended its law a few months later.)

You can learn more about Pence’s views from the Pence Agenda, his “listicle mission statement” from the year 2000, as the Colorado Independent explains here.

Pence will drop his re-election bid to run with Trump, IndyStar reports. The formal announcement comes tomorrow. If you want some more speculation about Pence, the New York Times has you covered.

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