Indiana's Republican Speaker of the House apparently didn't get the memo that Republicans need to rebrand themselves and he certainly didn't get the memo that it's 2014, because he's trying to pull off a massive political power play in support of a state constitutional amendment that would ban marriage equality and civil unions. From
The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne, Indiana,
here's the latest:
House Speaker Brian Bosma rescued the gay marriage amendment Tuesday by moving it to a friendlier committee.
He said he struggled with the decision over the weekend but had heard from a majority of the House Republican caucus – for and against the measure – that they wanted to vote on the bill on the House floor.
“This seemed like the best way to do it – the least intrusive and most respectful of the process,” Bosma said.
He moved House Joint Resolution 3 – the proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and civil unions – and a companion bill to the House Elections Committee.
Bosma moved the resolution from Indiana House Judiciary Committee because he feared the measure wouldn't make it out of the committee if he left it there, thanks largely to a lack of support from Republicans on the committee. Instead of letting the process play out like it was designed to work and respecting the committee's decision, Bosma decided to short-circuit the process because he just couldn't stand the possibility that Indiana voters wouldn't be asked to ban civil unions and same-sex marriage.
If Bosma's power play works out the way he wants, the resolution will reach the House floor, but as Joan wrote on Monday, a broad range of groups oppose his push to codify discrimination in the state's constitution, including Freedom Indiana.
Let's give these organizations, and Freedom Indiana a hand in fighting against discrimination this week.
