Another Nudge for John and I to Leave Indiana

The beginning of a painful and ugly process. From the Indianapolis Star:

SENATE LIKELY TO OK GAY MARRIAGE BAN, COMMITTEE'S LEADER SAYS
Star report
January 27, 2005

The Senate Corrections, Criminal and Civil Matters Committee is likely to take up a joint resolution Feb. 9 that could lead to a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, the panel's chairman said Wednesday.

The measure, authored by Sens. Brandt Hershman, R-Wheatfield, and Allie Craycraft, D-Selma, states that in Indiana, marriage will consist solely of the union between a man and a woman.

If the General Assembly passes Senate Joint Resolution 7 this year, a separately elected legislature would have to pass an identical measure before the proposed change could appear on the statewide ballot.

"I expect that to pass committee and the Senate, since it passed 42-7 last year in a very strong bipartisan vote," the committee's chairman, Sen. David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said. "We will give it a fair hearing, probably an hour for each side, most likely in the Senate chamber."

Long said the measure is needed even though the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled last week that the Indiana Constitution includes no right for same-sex couples to marry.

"What you have to remember is courts can change their minds. What one court says today may change tomorrow," Long said. "I think that will make a rock-solid statement about where Indiana stands on the institution of marriage. Only that statement would be able to stand the test of time."

I love that a "a fair hearing" is "probaby an hour for each side." Is that all the time it takes to discuss the social, legal, and economic implications of such a decision on 20,000 people and their kids?

I wish corporate Indiana would put its foot down. The last thing Indiana needs is one more reason for creative and progressive companies not to move here--and believe me this kind of thing speaks volumes about quality of life.