FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE/AP) – A nationally known writer and speaker on same-sex marriage spoke at IPFW’s Walb International Ballroom Thursday night. One Man, One Woman Marriage expert Ryan T. Anderson, Ph.D., spoke to a crowd of about 200.

Anderson earned in Ph.D. in political philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, but it was his undergraduate work that began his marriage career. While at Princeton, he, a fellow student, and a professor wrote the book, “What is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense.”

“We look at marriage through a philosophical prospective,” Anderson told NewsChannel 15. “What is marriage through as a public policy institution? Why does marriage matter for the political community and what are the consequences if you redefine marriage? Those are the sorts of questions we’re asking.”

While Anderson was scheduled to speak at IPFW weeks in advance, the lecture came just hours after Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed S.B. 101 into law. The measure would prohibit state and local laws that “substantially burden” the ability of people – including businesses and associations – to follow their religious beliefs. Click here to read more about the bill.

Anderson said people’s religious liberties have been violated in the past. “I’m going to mention some of the religious liberty violations that have happened where marriage has been redefined involving florist, bakers, photographers, things like that,” he said. “It’s a good thing that Indiana is now protecting religious freedom so these stories won’t happen.”

Anderson’s work has allowed him to closely follow similar laws that are already in place in 19 other states and at the federal level. He is the William E. Simon Fellow in Religion and a Free Society at The Heritage Foundation, where he researches and writes about marriage and religious liberty.

He reminded people that Democrats were the first to get behind legislation protection religious freedom.

“All of these overwrought reactions are really somewhat unfounded,” stated Anderson. “The Religious Freedom Restoration Act was sponsored by Chuck Schumer and Ted Kennedy.  This was passed unanimously in the House. It was passed with 97 Senators supporting it in the Senate, and it was signed into law by President Bill Clinton.”

With Pence’s signature, several organizations threatened to no longer do business or hold events in Indiana. Those include Gen Con, an annual video game convention held at the Indianapolis Convention Center, and the Christian Church, known as the Disciples of Christ, which has threatened to move its headquarters out of the Circle City. From prior legislation, Anderson said consequences are minimal to jurisdictions where RFRA is passed.

“We’ve seen now that there are 20 states with state versions of these that legislatures have passed, and an additional 11 that the court systems have interrupted their constitution have this type of protection,” Anderson said.  “So there are 31 states and the federal government that operates under this system of religious liberty protection and the sky hasn’t fallen in any of those jurisdictions.  It hasn’t caused any of these negative consequences.  It’s unclear why only in the past year or two activists have really started to object to religious liberty protection.  This was a principle our nation was founded on, that government should only course religious liberty when it absolutely has to.  All RFRA does is setup a balancing test, it doesn’t say religious liberty always wins or that the government always win.  It just says that it should be reviewed and looked at by a strict balancing test.”

Early Thursday evening, leaders with Gen Con announced they would stay put for the 2015 summer convention. The owner and CEO of Gen Con, Adrian Swartout sent a letter to the gaming community saying the convention would stay in Indianapolis. The convention has a contract with the Indianapolis Convention Center until 2020. The letter also said Gen Con wanted to hear positive and negative experiences on local hospitality when the convention takes place between late July and early August.

Click here to read the entire letter.

The lecture, which was sponsored by IPFW Newman Catholic Fellowship, Allen County Right to Life, IPFW Campus Ministry, IPFW Students for Life and Shepherds United, was free and open to the public.