I try to follow and post about the Indiana’s Marriage Discrimination Amendment every time it’s come up in the Indiana State Legislature, and here is a short history that I’ve been able to cobble together from past posts. This is mainly a testimony to my sketchy blogging more than anything else, as I seem to
Read on »Posts Tagged: SJR-7
What DOMA means for Indiana: nothing changes, but everything changes
Both the ACLU (our friends!) and the Indiana branch of the American Family Association (not our friends at all!) are noting that the DOMA decision by the Supreme Court doesn’t have any direct effect on same-sex marriage in Indiana, according to the Indy Star. Indiana has a law on the books banning same-sex marriage, and
Read on »So much to blog, so little time
I actually have things to write about lately, but haven’t geared up to do it. Lets see, where were we when we last tuned in? Oh, yeah, I was probably playing Packrat. Well, the gloss has come off that Facebook game somewhat, as I got collected most of the cards I could get a hold
Read on »marriage discrimination attached to Gov’s Property Tax Bill
Indiana Republican Foul play at work – because looked like SJR-7 the marriage discrimination bill that has failed to pass the Indiana House the last two years, might again fail, Representative Eric Turner, ranking Republican on the House Rules and Legislative Policy Committee, filed a amendment to House Joint Resolution No. 1 (HJR1) a proposed
Read on »The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette on the Marriage Discrimination Amendment
Courtesy of blueindiana.net, I enjoyed this editorial from the The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette on the plans to re-introduce SJR-7 – the marriage discrimination amendment – into the short legislative session this year (when, of course, there are much more pressing issues like property tax reform that need to be addressed.) There is no reason for
Read on »Julia Carson’s replacement should be LGBT Friendly
This is really disturbing – one of the names being discussed as a possibility for Julia Carson’s office by the Democrats is Indiana State Representative Carolene Mays, who voted in favor of SJR-7, the amendment to ban equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. More from Jerame Davis on Bilerico: The passing of Congresswoman Julia Carson
Read on »Regarding SJR-7
I just wanted to say that there are a lot of hard working people who were tireless in getting SJR-7 stopped in its tracks. I’m afraid to start naming them, because I’ll manage to leave someone out – but every single person who was involved in the grassroots effort worked hard – much harder than
Read on »SJR-7 Died in Committee
From numerous sources, but quoting from the Indiana Equality email: Marriage Discrimination Amendment dies in committee Indianapolis – Indiana Equality announced today that the Indiana House of Representative’s Rules and Legislative Procedures Committee voted five to five on Senate Joint Resolution 7 (SJR-7). As a result, the amendment will not be brought for a vote
Read on »SJR-7 Language rejected as flawed by ultra-conservative Bork
Bilerico contributor Don Sherffick testified before the recent House Committee meeting on SJR-7, noting that the language for the flawed second paragraph of the bill originally came from an early draft of the Federal version of the amendment – a draft that was later re-written considerably. That revelation caused some comment and concern amongst committee
Read on »Statewide religious coalition speaks out against SJR-7
From iconindiana.org: Indianapolis – The Interfaith Coalition on Nondiscrimination (ICON) today spoke out against Senate Joint Resolution 7 (SJR-7) in a letter to the Indiana General Assembly. The letter, which is signed by 130 Indiana clergy, leaders of faith communities, and other religious professionals, opens with, “Our backgrounds and those of the people we serve
Read on »Lilly Opposes SJR-7
As reported in the Indy Star (and by bilerico.com, Advance Indiana and Taking Down Words): Eli Lilly has joined several other large Indiana corporations (Cummins, Wellpoint, Dow AgroSciences) in opposing SJR-7, the Marriage Discrimination Amendment: “As a result of this uncertainty (over what the amendment’s impact might be,)” Murphy wrote, “some employees may choose to
Read on »Indiana Newspapers Against SJR-7
I was in the middle of putting this post together when Bilerico beat me to it… Newspapers that have come out against the SJR-7 marriage discrimination amendment legislation: The Marion Chronicle-Tribune The Bedford Times-Mail [link deprecated: http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/news/editorial/16859370.htm The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette ] The Indianapolis Star The Bloomington Herald-Times The Evansville Courier & Press The South
Read on »Colts raise $20,000 for Anti-Gay Group
This is being discussed in the comments on my post on Tony Dungy – but it bears pulling up to it’s own entry – at the Indiana Family Institute Dinner, the Colts sent merchandise to be donated off in an auction, which raised $20,000 for the organization to oppose gay rights and to support SJR-7.
Read on »House committee tables SJR-7 vote
According to Bil from Bilerico: The House Rules and Legislative Affairs committee listened to three hours of testimony regarding SJR-7, the proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions. After several members of the committee commented that they’d like more time to review the testimony before voting on the matter, Chair Scott Pelath
Read on »Cummins plans to testify against proposed ban
From the Indianapolis Star: No private employers testified against a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage when it was before the Senate, but that will change when discussion begins today in the House. Cummins Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Tim Solso has sent a letter to House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, encouraging him
Read on »Tony Dungy against same-sex marriage
According to the Indianapolis Star: Colts coach Tony Dungy said he knows some people would prefer him to steer clear of the gay marriage debate, but he used a speech Tuesday night to clearly stake out his position. Dungy told more than 700 people at the Indiana Family Institute’s banquet that he agrees with that
Read on »SJR-7 Assigned to Committee
House Joint Resolution 15 (HJR-15), the legislation formerly known as SJR-7 and the marriage discrimination amendment, has been assigned to committee in the house. It’s been placed in the House Rule and Legislative Procedures Committee. Please contact the members of this committee (information below) to oppose this legislation – for Democrats, remind them that putting
Read on »SJR-7 and Eric Miller
Due to supervising all the work on my old house over the past few weeks, and the work on our current home (which is still ongoing. Sigh.), and a busy time at work, and preparation to go to SXSW, I’m guilty of quite a few “drive-by” posts: where I mention important things without enough context
Read on »University of Wisconsin’s Loss of Domestic Partner Benefits Loses Faculty
I linked to this story earlier, but the story bears more attention, and I’ve found some addition links with more information. The state of Wisconsin is pursuing a same sex-marriage ban and is refusing to provide domestic partner benefits, and as a result the nation’s leading researcher in nanotechnology, Robert Carpick, left the University of
Read on »Alumni – Contact IU and Purdue about SJR-7
The bill I’ve been writing so much about lately – SJR-7 – will have an affect on the domestic partnership benefits that are offered by state universities. Currently Purdue and IU have these benefits, and Ball State and other universities have been considering adopting them to remain competitive for the best faculty. Currently, the right-wing
Read on »Contacting Your Legislators about SJR-7
I’ve mentioned this several times, but it bears repeating. If you haven’t contacted your legislators about SJR-7 (or even if you already have!), you can do so in a number of ways. Two sites have easy contact forms you can use, that look up your legislators for you based on the information you provide. You
Read on »500 attend Rally, House Democrats Hide from Constitutents
About 500 people attended the Rally in the Indiana Statehouse, organized by Indiana Equality to address SJR-7, the amendment to ban same-sex marriage, and to support the hate crimes bill, which will include sexual orientation and gender identity. There were several speakers, including Candace Gingrich, lgbt civil rights activist and sister of Newt Gingrich. See
Read on »University Domestic Partnership Benefits at Risk
In a neat bit of investigative work, Bil Browning discovered that SJR-7 author Brandt Hershman’s statements about the bill not affecting domestic partnership benefits for Purdue and Indiana University faculty members is not only false, but that he wrote the bill specifically to target those rights. Bill uncovered legislation by Hershman to repeal those rights
Read on »Rally Reminder
Please don’t forget there’s a rally tomorrow against SJR-7 at the statehouse — indoors, 1 – 2:30 p.m. in the North Atrium of the Indiana State House, 200 W. Washington St. (enter North Entrance, off Ohio Street). Candace Gingrich will speak at 1:40 PM. Many of you have President’s Day off tomorrow – please attend
Read on »Comparing the Indiana Legislature to the 20’s KKK is NOT Hyperbole
I’m sorry, RiShawn Biddle, but if you studied your history, like Chris Douglas and Gary Welsh have pointed out to you in several posts, you’d know better that to call it hyperbole. RiShawn is an editorialist for the Indianapolis Star, and posts to a “blog” on the newspaper’s site — which I still maintain is
Read on »SJR-7 Will Eliminate Purdue’s Health Care Benefits
As Gary Welsh rightly points out in a must-read article on SJR-7 and Purdue University’s health care benefits, the infamous second paragraph of the proposed amendment will indeed eliminate health care benefits for unmarried partners that are currently used by 31 employees of the university. The question is raised in the Lafayette Journal and Courier
Read on »Rally at the Statehouse – next Monday
The rally — called the “Read the Fine Print” — will feature Candace Gingrich, sister of Former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Newt Gingrich. WHAT: “Read the Fine Print!” Rally at the Statehouse WHEN: Monday, February 19, 2007 from 1:00 pm — 2:30 pm (Presidents Day) WHERE: Indiana Statehouse, North Atrium, 200 W.
Read on »SJR-7 Passes Senate
The bill to amend the Indiana Constitution to ban Marriage Equality passed the Senate today. As Gary Welsh notes on Advance Indiana, the right-wing hate battalion have managed to achieve something that even the KKK weren’t able to do when they held total control of state government – disenfranchise an entire unfavored minority group. Here
Read on »SJR-7 Passes Indiana Senate
The controversial, discriminatory Senate Joint Resolution 7 – to amend the Indiana Constitution to bar equal marriage rights – had a second reading in the Senate today, and was passed by the Senate, much to the State’s disgrace. Apparently an amendment to remove the highly ambigous second paragraph of the bill was voted down, even
Read on »SJR-7 Update
SJR-7, the bill to amend the Indiana Constitution to prevent equal marriage rights for gay people, was passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee today, and will soon be presented to the full Senate for voting – probably next week. That’s pretty bad news, especially since two amendments to the legislation that were presented were
Read on »My Thoughts on SJR-7
The SJR-7 legislation to amend the Indiana constitution is going to be heard in committee tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. The committee will meet in the Senate Chambers – 3rd floor of the Indiana Statehouse (200 W. Washington Street in Indianapolis). Everyone is invited to attend – a good crowd against the legislation will make
Read on »Rally at the Indiana Statehouse to Oppose SJR-7
A while back, I wrote about SJR-7, the bill to amend the Indiana constitution to eliminate equal marriage rights for same-sex couples, and I urged people to contact the legislators responsible for this atrocious piece of legislation. Well, there’s more you can do. Indiana Equality is organizing a rally at the State House to oppose
Read on »Anti-Marriage Equality Amendment Introduced to Indiana Legislature
As Bilerico is reporting – the massively flawed legislation to put an anti-marriage equality amendment (banning civil marriage for same-sex partners) on the ballot for voting had been re-introduced to the legislature. Here’s the proposed bill: DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL Definition of marriage. Provides that marriage in Indiana consists only of the union of one
Read on »Oh my god, Did Bauer just throw us under the bus?
Thanks to Bil for pointing out this jaw-dropping statement from Indiana Minority Leader Pat Bauer, D-South Bend: “I just think that the only way for (Republicans) not to (continue to) demagogue it is to have a redundancy. It’s too bad it has to go in the constitution, but so be it,” Bauer said. “It’s not
Read on »Rep. Espich on supporting bigotry: “I sure do!”
Representative Jeff Espich (R 82) was asked, “You don’t support bigotry do you, Sir?” His reply? “I sure do!” There were around 150 people protesting against House Speaker Brian Bosma’s Beer Bash for Cash last night at the Rathskeller in the Antheaneum, and my partner Stephanie and I were two of them. The problem with
Read on »We Kissed Inside The Statehouse
Photo Set: 2005 Rally Against SJR-7 We had a wonderful, successful rally at the Indiana Statehouse yesterday! Hundreds of people showed up with extraordinary signs to protest the SJR7 legislation. We were getting people’s contact information, and of the people who agreed to sign up, we got 757 contact addresses. That was about 3/4ths of
Read on »Statehouse Rally for Equal Marriage Rights – March 8
I will be attending this rally on March 8th, and I’m inviting you all to join me. I will be one of the crowd-control folks in a lovely orange vest. If you want to get together for a sign-making party, please let me know; this event is only a few short days away. In response
Read on »Statehouse Rally for Equal Marriage Rights – March 8
In response to the State Legislature’s current bill (SJR 7) seeking to limit equal marriage rights for same-sex couples by amending the constitution, gay rights advocates and their friends and families are planning a Rally/Silent Protest at the east steps of the Indiana Statehouse on Tuesday, March 8 at 11 a.m. to protest this piece
Read on »My letter to the Indy Star about SJR-7
I’m writing to the citizens of Indiana regarding Senate Bill SJR-7, the anti-gay hate bill that just passed the Senate and will be moving to the house soon. It’s fascinating to me that at the turn of the last century, Indianapolis was a mover and shaker on the national cultural scene. This city was at
Read on »Marriage Discrimination Amendment Bill Passes Senate (SJR-7)
You may have read that yesterday the Senate passed SJR7, the bill designed to codify hate and discrimination against gay people into the Indiana Constitution. Soon it will pass the House, and then it will need to pass in another legislative season, and be voted on by the people of Indiana before it becomes the
Read on »ROCK INDIANA – On MARCH 8th!
This is a rally I’m planning on attending to speak out against SJR7, which will put anti-gay hatred into the Indiana constitution. We are going to step outside of our homes and places of employment for one day – March 8th – to demonstrate and protest – not only against Eric Miller and his pro-marriage
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