We have good news and bad news from Indiana: that terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad constitutional amendment passed the House.
It’s bad news that it passed, because it means that a majority of legislators oppose equality. But now it’s time for the good news: lawmakers amended it before passage. And according to the rules, that means that it has to restart the multi-year approval process all over again. That means we have at least two more years to kill it.
Not only that, but there’s a slim chance it could die even faster. It now heads to the Senate, where mmmmmayyyyybe some Senators can figure out a way to vote it down. We’re not holding our breath, but it sure would be peachy if that happened.
That change to the amendment happened because the measure, as originally written, would have banned civil unions. And apparently that was a little too much inequality for some peoples’ tastes. So they took the civil unions ban out before passing it.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Of course, when all the legal maneuvering is done, there’s still a chance it could go before voters. Polling on that is extremely mixed: some surveys show the amendment going down in flames; others show it passing handily; others show it tied. The data have been messy, and it’s impossible to discern a trend. So if if does go to voters, state organizers have their work cut out for them.
You can get involved and do your part by connecting with Freedom Indiana.
nycstudentfilms
Hello,
I am a student in NYC creating a short film and am looking for some LGBTQA members or allies to share interesting stories regarding life and love. These stories do not have to be about you personally – they can be about friends, family, etc. If you are busy and worry about time commitment, do not worry. This project will be a one-time meeting/filming.
I’m looking for participants that have stories they feel need to be heard, listened to, and shared. I have no preference whether the story or situation is happy or sad.
Please follow up on this comment with a short synopsis of your story and we can go from there. Thank you for your time.
nycstudentfilms
Hello,
I am a student in NYC creating a short film and am looking for some LGBTQA members or allies to share interesting stories regarding life and love. These stories do not have to be about you personally – they can be about friends, family, etc. If you are busy and worry about time commitment, do not worry. This project will be a one-time meeting/filming.
I’m looking for participants that have stories they feel need to be heard, listened to, and shared. I have no preference whether the story or situation is happy or sad.
Please follow up on this comment with a short synopsis of your story and we can go from there.
Thank you in advance for your time.
ryanthehulk
In 2012 we voted down an amendment in Minnesota. Hopefully four years after that it is an easier defeat in Indiana. Or, maybe the Supreme Court will have handed down a ruling by then and all this will be a moot point.
Joetx
@ryanthehulk: Minnesota is a blue state. Indiana is a red state. I don’t think we’ll have as good a result in IN as MN.
Patsy Stoned
It is Indiana. It is changing (slowly), but the majority of people and politicians in that state hate gays. It will come around sooner than Alabama, but the majority of red states will remain comfortable in their hatred of gays for quite a while. At least they didn’t go full-on gay hate with the “anything that resembles marriage” like NOM and other anti-gay assholes wanted them to, so that is a bit of cold comfort.
Jay
The Senate actually passed the gay marriage ban WITHOUT the second sentence that also banned civil unions (Not sure why it’s not news on Queerty!)
This means that it will NOT be on the ballot in 2014, like the tea bagging governor wanted, and now it must be passed by a separately elected general assembly after 2014…so the soonest it can be on the ballot is 2016. That is assuming that the next general assembly passes it unchanged in 2015 or 2016.
Hopefully the Supreme court sorts this out before then, and the ban will be moot, which is what I am thinking will happen. I am pretty shocked it went down like this, I was sure the ban would have easily passed and it would have been passed by voters this year. Even if the Supreme Court does not rule on this before November 2016, I am optimistic that the ban would be rejected in a presidential election year.
This is also surprising given the fact that Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers..69-31 in the house, and like 39-11 in the Senate.