Indiana House Joint Resolution 6 (HJR-6) Marriage Discrimination Amendment

Yesterday, State Rep. Eric Turner filed Indiana House Joint Resolution 6 (HJR6) – the Marriage Discrimination Amendment in the Indiana House. It was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee. You can track the status of the bill at this link.

SECTION 1. The following amendment to the Constitution of the State of Indiana is proposed and agreed to by this, the One Hundred Seventeenth General Assembly of the State of Indiana, and is referred to the next General Assembly for reconsideration and agreement.

SECTION 2. ARTICLE 1 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF INDIANA IS AMENDED BY ADDING A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS: Section 38. Only a marriage between one (1) man and one (1) woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Indiana. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized.

The second sentence of this bill has a terrible effect on ALL unmmarried couples, not just same-sex couples, in Indiana. In other states, similar language has been used to strip away spousal abuse laws for unmarried partners, leaving domestic partners who are not married vulnerable to violence with no legal protections.

This is the second trip for this bill through the Statehouse; it was passed in a previous year. If it is passed again this year, it will be added to the ballot to be ratified as an amendment by the public.

1) To figure out your district and state legislators visit this link: District Look Up and enter your address. Contact information – usually a phone number and the legislator’s website – is listed. Call their 1-800 number, or visit their website and find contact information for an email.

June UPDATE: Although the bill was introduced into the legislature, it did not make it out of committee in the 2013 legislative season. Lawmakers indicated that they preferred to wait until the Supreme Court rulings on the Defense of Marriage Act were announced.

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