A resolution that aims to ban gay
marriage in Indiana cleared a House panel on Monday, the Indianapolis
Star reported.
The House Judiciary Committee approved
the measure with a 8-4 vote.
It is Republicans' first attempt to
define marriage as between a man and a woman in the Indiana
Constitution since regaining control of the Legislature in November.
If approved by lawmakers and voters in
2014, House Joint Resolution 6 would ban gay marriage, civil unions,
domestic partnerships and any government recognition of gay and
lesbian couples in the state.
House Representatives P. Eric Turner, a
Republican, and Dave Cheatham, a Democrat, are the primary sponsors
of the measure.
“I'm very please,” Turner told the
paper. “This is the eighth year we've tried to work on a
constitutional amendment on marriage.”
Indiana law bans gay couples from
marrying, but ban backers argue that courts could overturn the law.
At the hearing, Micah Clark of the
American Family Association (AFA) urged lawmakers to approve the
legislation: “People have the right to live as they choose, they
have the right to be free, but two percent of the population does not
have the right to redefine marriage for the rest of the state or the
entire populations.”
The resolution now moves to the full
House.