As of 2013, nine states have legalized and allow same-sex marriage. They are: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Maine, Maryland and Washington. Despite the sweeping victories and the progression toward full LGBT marriage rights in the United States, one state, Indiana, continues on the path to alter the state constitution to ban same sex marriages.
In 2011, the Indiana Senate passed House Joint Resolution 6. It was authored by Republican Representative Eric Turner. At the time of its passing in 2011, it had to have been voted on again in 2013 or 2014 in order to go to referendum in 2014. It must then pass referendum to become an Indiana constitutional amendment.
HJR-6 is a proposed amendment which states,
"Only marriage between one (1) man and one (1) woman will 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."
According to Indiana Equality Action and a report by the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, there are over 614 laws that would be affected by HJR-6. This included heterosexual couples as well, since the wording of HJR-6 is so vague.
That study was part of the reason that the proposed amendment was tabled in February 2013. The other is to see what will come of the 2013 SCOTUS decision on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
For more information, visit Fair Talk or Indiana Equality Action.
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