Indiana is going to loom large on the marriage equality front in 2014, where opponents of same-sex marriage have
proposed an amendment to strengthen the existing ban on gay marriage to extend to civil unions.
Beyond prohibiting gay marriage, the amendment’s proposed second sentence would forestall Indiana from granting civil unions or recognizing any other status “identical or substantially similar to that of marriage."
The amendment would stand as one of the more stringent gay marriage bans in the United States.
Freedom Indiana, a bipartisan, statewide organization came together in August to fight this bigoted effort. They've got some heavy-hitters on board including major corporations Eli Lilly and Company and Cummins, along with Indiana Equality Action, Freedom to Marry, Gill Action, American Unity Fund, American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana and Human Rights Campaign. Last month, they
released polling showing that a good majority of Indianans don't want the state's constitution to be used for bigotry and a plurality would vote against it.
By a 64% - 36% margin, voters say amending Indiana’s constitution is not the right way to deal with the issue of same sex marriage. This is true for a majority (57%) of Republicans, including 54% of “very” conservative voters, and for two-thirds of independents and Democrats.
By a 46%-43% margin, voters oppose this amendment and, with leaners, the margin is 48%-45% against it. Voters over age 65 are the only age cohort more in favor than opposed.
While the state legislature could try to install this amendment, they're not intending to,
and will leave it up to voters in next November's election. So
that's where we're going to be involved, helping our friends in Indiana fight for marriage equality.