Members of the Indiana House on Jan. 27 voted 52-43 to amend HJR-3, a bill that would enshrine the state’s marriage ban in its constitution, removing a provision that forbade “civil unions or other similar arrangements.” If passed by the House, the amended resolution moves to the state Senate. If the bill is successful there, the bill will have to pass through the legislature again in 2015 or 2016 before going to Indiana voters.
“We are relieved that, at least for now, discrimination will not be enshrined into Indiana constitution,” said Lambda Legal Marriage Project Director Camilla Taylor. “Indiana law already prohibits marriage for same-sex couples, and this effort is cruel and unnecessary. Same-sex couples and their children in Indiana need the dignity and protections of marriage, and shouldn’t have to see their lives deemed as less worthy of respect or recognition than other families. We congratulate the hard work of Freedom Indiana and the hundreds of Hoosiers that have fought so hard for fairness and equality. We are hopeful that this resolution, that seeks to harm gay and lesbian couples and their children, will be defeated or at least delayed by the Indiana Senate.”
The bill seemed to have been on the fast track after it passed to the House floor from the House Elections and Apportionment Committee Jan. 22. House Speaker Brian Bosma had the bill moved into that committee after it stalled in the less-conservative House Judiciary Committee.
Bilerico.com reported that Andrew Markle, an openly gay Republican candidate for state representative, resigned from the GOP in response to Bosma’s power play.
Markle wrote on his Facebook page, “As an openly gay male and a conservative, I find it deplorable that the state would choose to take such extraordinary measures to disenfranchise me and my fellow LGBT brothers and sisters.” Markle added that his campaign would continue without his GOP party affiliation.