Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyFebruary 15th, 2011
The Indiana House of Representatives today moved to make same-sex marriage even more illegaller in the state by approving a proposed constitutional amendment with a lopsided 70-26 vote. The measure now goes on to the Senate for consideration, where it is expected to pass easily. The Senate passed a proposed amendment in 2010, but it died in the lower house when it was under Democratic control. Republicans currently enjoy a 60-40 majority in the lower house and a 37-13 majority in the upper house.
In order to go onto the ballot for a popular vote, the proposed amendment will have to pass the Senate in this session, and then pass both houses again in the next separately elected legislature. The last time both houses approved a marriage ban was in 2005, which was also the last time the Republicans controlled the House.
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Kelly
February 15th, 2011
Would that it were that difficult for amendments to get on the Arizona constitution. (Talking about the process, not how many people voted on it.)
EZam
February 15th, 2011
All this work for something that wouldn’t survive a SCOTUS overturn.
Jeremy
February 15th, 2011
I hope a national Gay org or an Indianan one is ready for a Federal lawsuit if this passes. Depriving LGBTs of the right to address marriage and family law through the normal political process of petitioning state legislatures or state courts is a direct violation of Romer v Evans AND Lawrence v. Texas. Even if SCOTUS accepts restricting marriage to heterosexuals as a legitimate government interest, making LGBTs legal strangers to their own state government, and wholesale deprivation of sweeping Due Process rights is still unconstitutional. It does not significantly advance the government’s interest, nor is this violation of gays’ rights even logically connected to it.
Rob San Diego
February 16th, 2011
Now why can’t we have that rule here in California? And yet it takes a 2/3 majority to pass a budget.
Lynn David
February 16th, 2011
Republicans are fairly well entrenched in the Indiana house and senate now. There are also not a few democrats who favor such an amendment; others will vote in favor of the amendment so it simply cannot be used against them in the next election. So I don’t doubt that the amendment will pass and be in the ballot by 2014 if not 2013. It only takes a simple majority after that and in Indiana that is assured. In my house and senate districts polls concerning a marriage amendment generally run 85% or more in favor.
Mortanius
February 17th, 2011
Such a wonderful state. Graduation rates barely hitting 50%, rampant crime, foreclousures, 10%+ unemployment, property tax caps, and a budget year, and all our legislators have done for two months is get this done?
Who cares that the house is burning down, there’s some dust on the mantle that must be taken care of or the world will end.
They want to protect the scantity of marriage? Ban Divorce, or in a divorce the 1st one the state gets 10% off the gross value of the state, second divorce 20%, third state gets 30% of the value of the estate.
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