The Indiana Senate on Monday approved
an amended version of a proposed gay marriage ban, meaning that the
question will not reach this year's ballot.
With a 32-17 vote, the Senate approved
a version of House Joint Resolution 3 (HJR-3) which cleared the House
late last month. House members stripped out language which also
banned civil unions and other similar arrangements. Because a
constitutional amendment must be approved by two consecutive,
separately elected legislatures with the exact same wording before it
can advance to the ballot box, HJR-3's altered language effectively
pushes it to the back of the line.
The earliest the amendment can reach
voters is 2016.
Democratic Senator Greg Taylor called
on colleagues to reject the amendment.
“You can vote for this. You can vote
for it again. But I guarantee you someday, our kids will vote to
take it back out,” Taylor said on the Senate floor. “Let's end
this today. Let's vote HJR-3 down.”
“We all have friends, coworkers and
family we know are gay,” he added. “Are we going to look at them
and say … I am more deserving of basic civil rights?”
Freedom Indiana, the coalition working
to derail the measure, called Monday's vote a victory for delaying a
public vote.