Who attended religious freedom bill signing? Gov. Pence's office won't say

Who did Gov. Mike Pence invite to a private ceremony at his Statehouse office for the signing of a controversial "religious freedom" bill?

His office won't say.

The event was closed to the public and the press. His staff even told a reporter to leave the governor's office lobby/waiting area during the ceremony. And when asked for a list of attendees, they declined, promising a photograph would be posted on Pence's Twitter account.

His office then declined to identify those in the photo.

The photo includes Pence sitting at his desk, surrounded by 18 others. The legislation's primary sponsors — Sen. Scott Schneider, Sen. Dennis Kruse, and Rep. Tim Wesco — are pictured. So, too are several Franciscan monks, nuns, and orthodox Jews. One of the monks appears to be Fr. David Mary Engo of the Franciscan Brothers Minor in New Haven. He testified in favor of the bill during legislative hearings.

But according to people who attended, there were dozens of others present as well, perhaps as many as 80 total.

Another photograph, posted on Twitter by the American Family Association of Indiana's Micah Clark, shows Pence at his desk surrounded by a different group. They include the state's three most prominent lobbyists on conservative social issues: Clark, the Indiana Family Institute's Curt Smith, and Advance America's Eric Miller.

Those three, with their connections to a vast network of conservative churches, led a failed effort last year to ban same-sex marriage in Indiana's constitution. The governor has tried to distance the religious freedom legislation from that issue.

Call Tony Cook at (317) 444-6081. Follow him on Twitter: @indystartony.