300 clergy members oppose Indiana same-sex marriage ban

A day before Indiana lawmakers convene to kick off the 2014 session at the Statehouse, a group of mostly mainline faith leaders this afternoon delivered a letter opposing a proposed amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

The letter, which also is posted online, is addressed to lawmakers. It was signed by more than 300 Hoosier clergy members and faith leaders from several mostly mainline Christian denominations. Anti-amendment coalition Freedom Indiana and the Interfaith Coalition on Non-Discrimination organized the effort.

“The Marriage Amendment would increase discrimination and undermine religious freedom,” the letter says. “We urge you to vote against it.”

Today the Christian Theological Seminary on Indianapolis’ Northside also announced its opposition to the amendment. Seminary President Matthew Boulton was expected to be joined at a news conference at the Statehouse by Freedom Indiana President Rick Sutton, ICON Chairwoman the Rev. Melody Merida and the Rev. Felipe N. Martinez of Whitewater Valley Presbytery.

On Tuesday, the House and the Senate will open for organization day. The 2014 session officially begins in January, and that is when the amendment, called House Joint Resolution 6, is eligible for the second and final round of approval.

If it passes the House and Senate, the amendment will go to voters in a statewide referendum in November 2014.

The religious leaders who signed the letter differ from other Christian leaders, often from more conservative faith traditions, who have called for the amendment’s passage.

They and other social conservatives say it’s important to protect Indiana’s longstanding definition of marriage from court intervention by elevating the ban on gay marriage from state law to the constitution. The amendment also would ban civil unions and other arrangements similar to marriage.

The opponents’ letter says that the signatories don’t all agree on whether Indiana should grant same-sex marriages, though several participating denominations do sanction them. But they agreed that the constitution was not the right place for Indiana to decide the issue.

“The proposed ‘Marriage Amendment’ would strip civil rights from committed same-gender couples,” the letter says. “For our society to be just, the civil rights of all people, even those with whom we may disagree, must be protected. We should not be writing discrimination into our State Constitution. This fact alone merits rejection of the Marriage Amendment.”

In recent months, Advance America, the Indiana Family Institute and the American Family Association of Indiana have been lobbying lawmakers to support the amendment and send it to voters.

House Speaker Brian Bosma and Senate President Pro Tem David Long reiterated during an Indiana Chamber of Commerce luncheon today that the amendment will get consideration during the session.

Call Star reporter Jon Murray at (317) 444-2752. Follow him on Twitter: @IndyJonMurray.