The Indiana House on Thursday scheduled
a vote on a proposal to put a gay marriage ban in the Indiana
Constitution.
The House will vote on HJR-3 on Monday.
“Monday's vote is about so much more
than defeating a single piece of legislation,” said Peter Hanscom,
deputy campaign manager for Freedom Indiana, the coalition working to
derail the ban. “It's about real people, real Hoosier families who
would forever suffer the consequences of this deeply flawed
amendment.”
Indiana is the first state to consider
a marriage ban since the Supreme Court ruled a key provision of the
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional in June. DOMA, which
prohibited federal agencies from recognizing the marriages of gay
couples, inspired many of the state bans that followed.
A House panel on Wednesday voted to
send HJR-3 to the full House. The vote came a day after House
Speaker Brian Bosma, a Republican from Indianapolis, pulled the
proposed ban out from the House Judiciary Committee, where support
appeared weak after a hearing last week, to the House Elections and
Appointment Committee, where all 9 Republicans voted for the measure.
(Related: Proposed
Indiana gay marriage ban clears House panel.)
Rep. Eric Turner, a Republican from
Cicero, introduced the measure in 2011. It easily cleared the House
and Senate with bipartisan support. However, a second vote is needed
before the amendment can head to voters in November.