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January 14, 2009

Indiana Conservatives Revisit Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment

Indiana lawmakers who oppose same-sex marriage said Monday they would launch another effort to ban such unions with a constitutional amendment, reports The Indianapolis Star.

Dave Cheatham, a Democrat, and Rep. Eric Turner, a Republican, said they would both sponsor measures with identical language in the house, and GOP senator Marlin Stutzman said he would sponsor legislation in the senate.

But prospects of the initiative passing both chambers this session seemed dismal. Democratic house speaker Patrick Bauer suggested that a constitutional ban was not necessary since Indiana already has a law prohibiting gay marriage.

Bauer said judges had been upholding that law and that proponents of the amendment “must have living proof that that law’s not being followed ... we certainly don't want to waste the public's time when we have the critical duties that we have.”

Though both chambers of the state legislature passed a constitutional ban in 2005 while under Republican control, state rules dictate that an amendment must pass two separately elected legislatures before being put to a statewide referendum. The measure stalled when Democrats took control of the House in 2006.

According the Star, the proposed amendment reads: “Only a marriage between one (1) man and one (1) woman shall be valid or recognized as marriage in Indiana. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized.” (Advocate.com)

Reader Comments

These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.

  • Name: Rick & David
    Date posted: 2009-01-15 7:28 PM
    Hometown: Long Beach, CA

    Comment:

    When will the GLBT communities get together to find financial resources and fight this bigotry with the ballot box? We are so demure....that is one big reason Prop 8 passed. The more people become vocal, the less we and our rights will be trampled on. Perhaps if everyone became a bit more vocal, these idiots who would rather live in a theocracy versus and democracy, would be voted out of office.


  • Name: Chris
    Date posted: 2009-01-14 1:40 PM
    Hometown: San Diego

    Comment:

    Finally, finally!! We have found a couple of politicians willing to address the gay issue and not avoid the topic by saying that they have to work on the economy, the war, jobs, health care, education, etc. Lead by example, guys. And good luck with that. You're doing a hellava job!


  • Name: michael
    Date posted: 2009-01-14 1:24 PM
    Hometown: boston

    Comment:

    Looks like they're trying to prohibit civil unions too: " A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized.” ...What a waste of tax payers' time and money.


  • Name: DISGUSTED AMERICAN
    Date posted: 2009-01-14 10:12 AM
    Hometown: deptford NJ

    Comment:

    well ANOTHER state in the USA to avoid....basically 3/4 of this country are NOT for Visiting/touring.....I do NOT spend my money in Bigoted/discriminatory states...This country disappoints me almost every day!


  • Name: Cindy
    Date posted: 2009-01-13 8:45 PM
    Hometown: Rancho Cucamonga

    Comment:

    Wouldn't you think that these morons would figure out that by allowing same sex marriage we could stimulate the economy? What a waste of our taxes. We pay taxes at a single rate so they can discriminate against us. A side note, am I the only one that it takes 5 or 6 tries to get the words right on the submit box?


  • Name: Tyler
    Date posted: 2009-01-13 5:06 PM
    Hometown: San Luis Obispo

    Comment:

    It is pretty frightening that so many people concern themselves with banning gay marriage, fighting to stop gay marriage or same sex relationships, when this country has fallen apart and needs special attention to so many important things. This is nothing but a waste of time. It's so sad that these people can't see that. Trying to stop something that can never and will never be stopped.


  • Name: Daniel S
    Date posted: 2009-01-13 3:16 PM
    Hometown: New Hope, PA

    Comment:

    As Bush/Rove demonstrated in recent years, when things are bad there's few better ways to distract the masses than with a nice anti-gay crusade. It allows for distraction from real policy issues while generating lots of emotion about something that, even if it passed, would confer no real benefit on the majority and harm a minority. But it appeals to people's willingness to forget their own best interest when venting their bigotry.


  • Name: KK
    Date posted: 2009-01-13 2:17 PM
    Hometown: Pittsburgh

    Comment:

    It's the Indianapolis Star, not the Indiana Star


  • Name: Joe
    Date posted: 2009-01-13 1:39 PM
    Hometown: Philadelphia, PA

    Comment:

    Wow, with everything else going on in our country today, these congressmen and senator have nothing better to focus on than this? These morons should be thrown out of office because they are surely not working to help the people they were elected to help. They need to work on creating jobs and stimulating the economy, not this divisive and discrimanatory nonsense.


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