INDIANA: Marriage Ban Advances

Last month the Indiana House voted to insert a ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions into the state constitution. This morning an Indiana Senate committee voted 7-3 to advance their version of the bill to the full chamber, where it has already passed five times.

The vote was along party lines, with Democrats against. Indiana state law already limits marriage to between one man and one woman, but supporters want the language inserted into the state Constitution so judges can’t overturn the law in the future. The proposed language specifically says “only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Indiana. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized.” The second sentence effectively would ban legislators from enacting civil unions in the future.

The legislature will have to approve the bill a second time by 2014 in order to get it on that year's ballot, the earliest voters would see it.