Jon Stewart hammers defenders of Indiana's anti-LGBT law: Don't compare gay people to the KKK
Jon Stewart returned to The Daily Show on Monday by ridiculing supporters of Indiana's Senate Bill 101 for constantly invoking Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members in their rhetoric.
"It's been awhile since I've taken the SATs, but I believe the formulation as you defend yourselves is this: [a lesbian] couple is to Christian business as [Klan members] are to everyone else," he said. "Is that what you're saying? 'I'm not discriminating, I have nothing against gay people; I'm just saying, for some Christians, catering an elderly lesbian wedding is like making a Jew slow-dance with Hitler.'"
The bill, which originally opened the door for businesses to discriminate against LGBT customers, brought a firestorm of criticism against both Republican legislators and Gov. Mike Pence (R) after being signed into law. That criticism, in turn, prompted Christian conservatives like former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) to accuse opponents of trying to stifle "religious freedom."
"Shut up," Stewart said in response to Huckabee's remarks. "So when gays want equality, it's militancy. And when Christians want to deny service, it's freedom. See, those who are defending this sort of law go very far out of their way to say how it's not discriminatory towards anybody. Especially gay people -- they've got nothing against gay people."
As the bill became the impetus for threats of boycotts by businesses ranging from Angie's List to the NCAA, Stewart said, a hastily-revised bill was passed and signed into effect by Pence late last week. But not before Pence tried -- and failed -- to stick up for the measure in an ABC News interview.
"First of all, can we stop talking about the people of Indiana like they're a lost tribe from Nostalgistan," Stewart argued. "Let's face it -- people from Indiana are no nicer or sh*tier than people anywhere else. Except Philly, that's the worst. And D.C. Really, any [National League] East city."
While the language of the bill was changed to bar anti-LGBT discrimination, he noted, employers in the state can still legally fire workers because of their gender or sexual orientation.
"The lesson here is clear," Stewart said. "If you're in Indiana, and you get fired for being gay, make those motherf*ckers cater your wedding."
Watch Stewart discuss the controversy in Indiana, as posted online on Monday, below.