Indiana same-sex marriage ban

[Diane Vera]

In some other thread (I forget which one) there was a mention of the following news story:

* Gay Marriage Amendment Rally at Statehouse (http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6287491) by Jim Shella, March 27, 2007

This story begins:

INDIANAPOLIS - The proposed ban on same sex marriage prompted the biggest rally of the year at the Statehouse Tuesday. About 1,000 people turned out to demand votes on the gay marriage ban. Conservative activist Eric Miller led the way.

This was the biggest rally of the year? I'm wondering: Can't the gay rights movement muster 1000 people for a rally?

[keltic63]

This was the biggest rally of the year? I'm wondering: Can't the gay rights movement muster 1000 people for a rally?

I'm going to go with "no" we just can't seem to bring 1000 people together for a rally. I attended a rally at my state capital last year to protest a bill that would write discrimination into our state constitution (marriage ban). I was disappointed that here in PA, we were only able to round up a few hundred to join the rally in our state capitol.

[u-dog]

The process is still unfolding and the pro-glbt forces are well organized here and are biding their time. the ban has already passed the legislature ONCE and now the two year waiting period has expired. It has or is about to pass the committee on its way to the floor of the legislature. If it passes there it will have to go to the voters in 2008. Timing is everything. don't despair. I would guess that it is more than possible to put 1,000 pro glbt protesters in the field... and we won't have to bus them in from East Jesus either. My wife and I ( and maybe our kids) will be there when it happens. Thats 5 people right there! 995 to go!

[Rick336]

The way to get big turn outs for protest rallies is to advertize them alot. Make a big deal out of it. Get people excited so they want to come. Make them believe they'll really miss out on something big if they don't go.

When I lived in Minneapolis in the 70s, Jerry Falwell announced he was coming to town to hold a Moral Majority rally at the city auditorium. Several gay groups organize a protest. We passed out flyers, put ads in gay newspapers, put up posters in bars, did mailings and phone calls. Within two weeks time we got over 1,000 people to show up for a very loud protest. Jerry Falwell was so shaken by the large crowd he mentioned it on a national talk show a week later.

When Soulforce organized the protest in Colorado Springs last summer, I saw one ad in the Advocate about it and a few posts and articles about it on this site. But that was about it.

When I saw the ad in the Advocate I was very excited about going to Colorado Springs. I was planning to buy a plane ticket and fly out to participate. But as weeks passed and I didn't see a lot of excitement about it, I started thinking that maybe it wasn't such a big deal after all. So I stayed home.

I'm not sure what the turn out was for that protest but I get the impression that it was not huge. It should have been since Denver isn't far away and has an active gay community.

I haven't seen much at all about this year's gay family participation in the White House Easter Egg Roll. I haven't seen anything in the Advocate about it or other gay news web sites I go to. And the only mention of it on this web site is a message that I posted about it in this forum a few weeks ago.
When I go to the Family Pride site that's organizing the event there's no update about it.

We can talk about how important it is to attend public demonstrations all we want to. But unless we keep people's attention and generate excitment, the turn-out usually suffers.

After all, we're human. We act on our emotions. And if our emotions dwindle, so does the turn-out.

Rick

[u-dog]

Sometime tomorrow afternoon after the House has adjourned for the day, the House Rules and Legislative Procedure Committee will convene to decide if Senate Joint Resolution 7 (SJR 7) should be sent to the House Floor for debate and a vote. As you know, the current version of this Bill has two parts: Part A would amend the State Constitution to define marriage, and Part B would prevent the legal incidents of marriage from being conferred on any unmarried couple.



Although it is unlikely that we can stop the entire Bill from moving forward, ICON is optimistic that Part B can be stopped. This portion of the Bill threatens current domestic partner benefits and protections for unmarried victims of domestic violence. It also prevents the State General Assembly from passing future legislation that would provide hospital visitation rights and inheritance rights (legal incidents of marriage) to unmarried couples.



Members of the Rules and Legislative Procedures Committee need to hear from you before they meet tomorrow afternoon. The exact time is unknown, but the House typically adjourns between 3:00 and 3:30 PM. Committee members need to hear that you—a person-of-faith—oppose SJR-7 in its entirety, for the following reasons:




1. It discriminates against all couples in committed relationships who are not married.

2. It permanently writes discrimination into the Indiana Constitution.

3. It is just an attempt to distract Hoosiers from the greater issues at hand.

4. It threatens current and future economic development.

5. It violates every Hoosier’s basic right to fairness and equality.



Even if you have already voiced your opposition, please do it again. The voice of fair-minded people-of-faith must be heard over the voice of the extremists who politicize in a quest to give legal preference to a particular set of religious beliefs.



If your State Representative is on this committee, contact them and ask them to oppose this discriminatory amendment. Everyone is encouraged to contact the committee chair. Your State Representative is identified for you at the end of this message.



Call 317-232-9600 (local) or 800-382-9841 (toll free), or email to the addresses provided below:




Scott Pelath, Chair
(D) District 9
h9@in.gov


Russ Stilwell, Vice-Chair
(D) District 74
h74@in.gov


Matt Whetstone, Ranking Minority Member
(R) District 40
h40@in.gov


Terri Austin
(D) District 36
h36@in.gov


Earl Harris
(D) District 2
h2@in.gov


Dennie Oxley
(D) District 73
h73@in.gov


Randy L. Borror
(R) District 84
h84@in.gov


Robert Kuzman
(D) District 19
h19@in.gov


Eric Turner
(R) District 32
h32@in.gov


Ralph Foley
(R) District 47
h47@in.gov






It is critical that these committee members to hear from you. Please take a few minutes to call or email them right now!



When contacting a legislator, please remember to state that you are a person-of-faith professional and what District you are from.



Please forward this message to other fair minded people-of-faith.



Thank for your time and for being part of ICON’s network of people-of-faith making their voice heard in Indiana .



Dan Funk

Executive Director

(317) 722-0236

[antonyh]

By Deanna Martin
Associated Press Writer
April 3, 2007 7:41 PM

A proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage failed to pass a key House committee Tuesday, and some lawmakers said the proposal is dead for this year.

http://www2.indystar.com/articles/1/250099-5011-127.html

[u-dog]

:applause: :weee: :weee: :weee: :aparty: :aparty: :aparty: WOOHOO !!!!:aparty: :aparty: :aparty: :weee: :weee: :weee: :applause:



:pray: :pray: :pray: thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou:pray: :pray: :pray: