Marriage Discrimination Amendment Passes Senate, Heads to House

Ask Your State Representative to Reject SJR-13

Indiana’s Marriage Discrimination Amendment, Senate Joint Resolution 13 (SJR-13) authored by Senator Carlin Yoder passed the Indiana State Senate by a vote of 38 to 10today, Thursday, January 28, 2010.

Leading the Senate opposition to SJR-13, Senators Vi Simpson (Bloomington) and Tim Lanane (Anderson) stated clearly that the Marriage Discrimination Amendment threatens Indiana’s economic recovery and distracts from the real issues facing Hoosiers.

The amendment will moves now to the House of Representatives where similar proposals – House Joint Resolutions 5 and 7 (HJR-5 & HJR-7) were filed by Representatives Bill Davis and Eric Turner.

“The Marriage Discrimination Amendment violates every Hoosier’s basic right to fairness and equality. It’s just an attempt to distract Hoosiers from the greater issues facing Indiana, threatening our state’s current and future economic development” stated Indiana Equality Action President Randy Studt.

The Marriage Discrimination Amendment is being advocated by Advance America, the American Family Association of Indiana, and the Indiana Family Institute. Even though Indiana has passed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1997, a law that has been upheld by Indiana courts, these organizations continue to push for this unnecessary and discriminatory amendment.

Contact members of the House of Representatives today, asking them to reject SJR-13, the Marriage Discrimination Amendment.

You can also lobby your elected officials personally on February 15th by attending IE Action’sLearn. Lobby. Influence. Click here for more information and to RSVP.