Indiana state house approves constitutional amendment banning gay ‘marriage’
INDIANAPOLIS, – In a startling rebuke to those who say gay “marriage” is inevitable, the Indiana House of Representatives has approved a constitutional amendment protecting marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Representatives passed House Joint Resolution 3 by a wide margin, 57-40. Eleven Republicans joined 29 Democrats in voting against the motion. If the amendment passes the state Senate, Indiana voters will decide its fate in a statewide referendum. That vote may be delayed, since legislators changed the formal wording by deleting a sentence that also barred state recognition of same-sex civil unions. The U.S. Supreme Court cited the existence of civil unions as part of its reasoning in allowing a lower judge's ruling striking down California's state constitutional marriage protection amendment . The new wording would require another General Assembly vote, meaning it would not be on the ballot until November 2016. However, if the state Senate