If Indiana Republicans have their way, Indiana will not just be fighting the tide of history, but furiously backpedaling. In the past few weeks, marriage equality has been upheld in Utah and Oklahoma, of all places, and voters in Utah said they're
okay with civil unions and are leaning toward being okay with full marriage. Utah! So here's Indiana, trying to put one of the
most restrictive civil unions and marriage amendments in the country into their constitution.
Actually, not all Republicans in Indiana think that. In fact, there are possibly enough of them on the House Judiciary Committee who don't like the idea of this constitutional amendment,that the Republican House Speaker might remove them from the committee.
INDIANAPOLIS | House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, may take the extraordinary step of replacing members on the House Judiciary Committee to ensure the marriage amendment wins committee approval and gets a vote by the full House.
"I've said one person shouldn't make the decision; we've got to figure out if a couple people ought to make the decision for all Hoosiers," Bosma said. "The speaker, of course, has the power to move bills and has complete autonomy over committee membership. [...] Our rules clearly provide for it," Bosma said. "Members serve at the pleasure of the speaker."
This constitutional amendment cannot appear on the ballot this fall if the legislature doesn't pass it. Despite the large Republican majority, at least three Republicans on the Judiciary Committee want to scuttle it. The bill was supposed to have been voted on last Monday,
but the vote has been postponed until sometime this week. That gives Bosma time to issue threats like this, but it also gives groups like Freedom Indiana the time to
lobby the legislature.
One of the reasons that some Republicans might be a little hesitant on this bill is the long list of opponents who don't want to see discrimination constitutionalized in their state. That list includes some very major heavy-hitters, like major corporations Cummins and Eli Lilly & Co., not to mention almost all of the states institutions of higher learning.
Let's give these organizations, and Freedom Indiana a hand in fighting against discrimination this week.
