Dear Marriage Supporter,

The Indiana Marriage Amendment was passed on a bi-partisan basis by the legislature in 2011, and needs to be approved just one more time before being referred to voters in 2014.

But our legislators in Indiana need some extra encouragement, so I need you to stand up today and tell them that the people of Indiana have a right to vote on marriage because we care about protecting it for future generations!

Around the country, we have seen same-sex marriage activists trying to engage elitist judges and legislators to circumvent the will of the people and the democratic process and derail attempts to allow popular votes on marriage.

And in Indiana, gay marriage lobbyists and their allies in the media are once again ramping up their campaigns of disinformation by attempting to persuade House and Senate leadership to postpone a vote on the measure.

The amendment stands a very good chance of passing if brought to a vote, but legislators like Senate President Pro Tem David Long (R-Fort Wayne) aren’t being forthright about whether they will bring the issue up for a vote.

Marriage supporter, we need to hold our representatives accountable!

I need you to do three things right away — each of which will only take a few minutes:

1. Click here to send an email to your state legislators, urging them to support the Indiana Marriage Amendment. A copy of your letter will also be sent to Senate President David Long and House Speaker Brian Bosma.
2. Phone the following key legislators and tell them to support the Marriage Amendment:

David Long (R)	Senate President Pro Tem:	317-232-9400
Brian Bosma (R)	Speaker of the House:	317-232-9677
Brandt Hershman (R)	Senate Majority Leader:	317-232-9840
William Friend (R)	House Majority Leader:	800-382-9841

 

You can also click here to find your local legislators and give them a call, too.

3. Forward this email to friends and family throughout the state, or use the buttons below to share on Facebook and Twitter. (We need a groundswell of public support to make sure legislators know their constituents stand firmly on the side of marriage!)

   

Marriage is the beautiful and sacred union of a man and a woman, bringing together the two halves of humanity for the benefit of children and all of society. . . and it must be protected!

It is critically important that our legislators hear from us and that they know that Hoosiers have the right to vote on a marriage amendment! Make sure that our leaders in Indianapolis understand this by taking a few moments to make your voice heard right away!

Dear Marriage Supporter,

Your legislators need to hear from you today in support of the Indiana Marriage Amendment.

Click here to take action now.

The amendment was passed by the legislature in 2011, and needs just one more legislative approval before going to voters in 2014.

But gay marriage activists and their allies in the media are playing up opposition to the amendment — trying to persuade House and Senate leadership to postpone a vote on the measure. Most recently, a group of liberal clergy — representing groups such as the United Church of Christ, LifeJourney Church (a Metropolitan Community Church whose website indicates it was founded by "18 devout gay Christians"), and The Church Within, among others — gained airtime with a public letter urging the legislature to reject the marriage amendment.

With substantial Republican majorities in both houses, the amendment stands a good chance of passage if brought to a vote, but recent reports indicate that Senate President Pro Tem David Long (R-Fort Wayne) is hedging on whether he will allow the amendment to be voted on in the Senate.

I need you to do two things right now:

1. Click here to send an email to your state legislators urging them to support the Indiana Marriage Amendment. A copy of your letter will also be sent to Senate President David Long and House Speaker Brian Bosma.

2. Forward this email to friends and family throughout the state, or use the buttons below to share on Facebook and Twitter. We need a groundswell of public support to make sure legislators know their constituents stand firmly on the side of marriage.

We're on the cusp of a major victory in Indiana, and need your help to make the amendment a reality. Please take action today!

The Indiana Republican Party's new platform makes no mention of same-sex marriage, even though GOP gubernatorial candidate Mike Pence has sought a national ban in Congress and legislators have pushed to put a ban in the state constitution.

... Indiana Republican Party spokesman Pete Seat downplayed the importance of the change in the state platform, which was approved during the party convention last weekend.

"A lot of issues are covered; a lot weren't," Seat said. "This platform reflects the broader priorities of the Indiana Republican Party."

... When the legislature voted in 2011 for an amendment banning same-sex marriage, 11 Democrats voted with 59 Republicans to approve it in the House, while three Democrats joined 37 Republicans to support it in the Senate.

The amendment must be approved again by the Legislature elected in November to be considered by voters in the fall 2014 election.

"In so many ways, this constitutional amendment [defining marriage as between one man and one woman] is bad for Minnesota employers and a distraction from the real priority for the state: growing the economy," said Charlie Zelle, CEO of Jefferson Bus Lines and chair of the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The above was taken from a press release issued by a pro-SSM group in MN.

Maggie Gallagher took a look at this claim that gay marriage is an economic development plan when it was last floated in Indiana and demonstrated how it is bogus in her syndicated column:

Consider the state-level data on per capita personal income growth between 1999 and 2009, published by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The top five states for income growth in that decade are: Wyoming, North Dakota, Louisiana, Montana and Oklahoma. Four of the five states with the fastest income growth per capita have state marriage amendments, and none have gay marriage.

Or consider another potential measure of a state's business climate: What do CEOs think? Chief Executive magazine annually surveys 543 CEOs to identify which states are the best and the worst for job growth and business. In 2009, the top five states for job growth in CEOs' opinions were: Texas, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. Four out of five have marriage amendments, and none have gay marriage.

(The worst? California, New York, Michigan, New Jersey, and yes, Massachusetts.)

Or consider another data point that comes from a recent U.S. Chamber of Commerce survey, "Enterprising States," which includes a ranking for what it called "middle-class job growth." These are presumably the good jobs that the creative class seeks or fosters.

The top five states for middle-class job growth between 2002 and 2009 are: Utah, Wyoming, Nevada, Hawaii and Texas. Once again, four out of the five have state marriage amendments, and none have gay marriage.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also compiles a list of states that are the top "overall growth performers": North Dakota, Virginia, South Dakota, Maryland and Wyoming. The top three all have state marriage amendments, and none have gay marriage. [Maryland has since rejected same-sex marriage as well.]

And back in 2004 Steven Malanga wrote a devastating critique of this "creative class" meme: The Curse of the Creative Class.

Several supporters of gay marriage, in what is, sadly, becoming a too-common recurring theme of lack of respect for the democratic process, started screaming from the gallery, “Stop hating, stop dividing, stop pandering.” The Senate had to actually close the gallery and remove all spectators in order to permit the debate to progress. Classy act, that one.

We published a full-page ad in the Columbus (Ind.) Republic going after Cummins, Inc. for its ludicrous claim that defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman would somehow interfere with its ability to compete. A Cummins exec actually threatened to punish the people of Indiana by failing to expand jobs if they passed the marriage amendment--even as the company was announcing plans to expand in nearby Tennessee, which HAS a marriage amendment.

(Thanks to Micah Clark and the American Family Association of Indiana for co-sponsoring the ad.)

The amendment, identical to amendments passed in nearby states, says simply:

“Only a marriage between one (1) man and one (1) woman shall 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.”

Congrats to the people of Indiana! Kudos to all the groups in Indiana who worked so hard for so many years to make this great victory possible. And thank you, my friend, for all that you've done to make this new victory possible. You are the reason NOM is able to win incredible victory after incredible victory.

In Indiana, this is only the first step. After an election, both the House and Senate will have to pass this resolution again--and then the future of marriage in Indiana will go to the people in 2014.

Only one Republican jumped ship, believing the opposition's line: Rep. Ed Clare, a new member. He's the only Republican in about six votes in the last ten years to come out against protecting marriage.

And the Democrats who voted to protect marriage will, no doubt, face attacks from within.

Indianans will have to work to protect and extend this victory in 2012--and not only in Indiana!

"I'm not sure if everyone knows this yet or not, but I believe the poll that Senate Democrats keep bringing up showing that 47% of Hoosiers oppose the Marriage Amendment was paid for by the lead gay marriage activist lobby, Indiana Equality Action. They totally control everything about the poll and can't even get a majority of their 400 sample group to oppose marriage. Also, 66% of those polled were Democrats or Independents, only 34% were Republicans (there are other issues as well with the methodology of the poll if you even want to get into the weeds of a poll paid for by the opponents of HJR 6). If pro-marriage folks had paid for a poll like this, liberal Senators would have scoffed at it as ridiculously biased."

We would add, in terms of the sampling by party affiliation, In 2008 Indiana voted 36% R, 41% D and 24% I (=101% due to rounding). In 2010 Indiana voted 42% R, 31% D, 27% I.

Thus it appears this poll undersampled Republicans and oversampled Independents: 34% R, 30% D, 36% I.

Getting further into the weeds, the phrasing of the question posed about the marriage amendment used classic tactics to flavor the response, including the common red herring of saying the marriage amendment preserving the definition of one-man, one-woman marriage would "make gay marriage illegal."

Even with such phrasing, more Hoosiers strongly favor (35%) a marriage amendment than strongly opposed (34%), 12% somewhat oppose it while 8% somewhat favor it, and a whopping 11% said they didn't know or refused to answer. Maggie has already written before about how more and more people are likely choosing to keep their views on marriage private rather than be treated or perceived as a "bigot" by the pollster.

The only actual "poll" which matters, a free and fair vote of the people, in every state, has consistently demonstrated that the American people are for marriage, as the Hoosiers will once again confirm should they be given the chance to do so in 2014.

The final vote was 40-10.

3 Democrats joined 37 Republicans in voting for the amendment.

Local WIBC reports:

"The family is the basic unit of our society, and has been since Adam and Eve (were) created," Auburn Republican Dennis Kruse, who sponsored the amendment, says. "Marriage is, and should be, the union of one man and one woman."

Now it must pass the House and Senate again, after an intervening election (i.e. in either 2013 or 2014) to get to the people of Indiana in 2014.

Congratulations Indiana!

The Senate president closed the Senate gallery [yesterday] afternoon after the audience interrupted debate on a constitutional gay marriage ban by yelling, “stop hating, stop dividing, stop pandering.”

Senators were starting to discuss amendments to a resolution that would add a ban on gay marriage to the state’s constitution when one man in the balcony began shouting and others joined him. Senate President Pro Tem David Long then ordered the balcony seating closed. As they filed out, the roughly 40 audience members yelled “jobs not hate” — a statement on what they think the Senate’s priorities should be.

As we reported, the bill went on to survive attempts to amend (defeat) it.

The floor vote in the Senate is expected on Wednesday and it looks good for passage.

Last week the Senate Judiciary Committee passed HJR 6 by a vote of 7-3.

"I don't know if they realize yet that the Obama administration's decision not to defend DOMA really places Indiana at risk, because we don't have an amendment -- even though two-thirds of the states do," says the pro-family spokesman. "We are very vulnerable until this does go on the ballot and hopefully be passed by Hoosiers for a legal challenge to this."

The earliest the issue could go on the ballot is November 2014.

"Why would a big corporation like Cummins, Inc. try to keep the people of Indiana from voting on marriage? There is zero evidence that gay marriage helps, or state marriage amendments affect economic growth--as Cummins, Inc ought to know because they've just announced plans to expand in a state that has a marriage amendment," said Brian Brown, President of NOM. "We don't know why Cummins, Inc. would embarrass itself by making a claim like that, but we can tell you one thing: gay marriage is not an economic development plan and if your leaders think otherwise, your state's economy is in trouble," added Brown.

"Four of the five top states with job growth have marriage amendments and none have gay marriage," said Maggie Gallagher, Chairman of NOM, who authored the column reproduced in the Columbus Republic, "The small number of very liberal northeastern states who have embraced gay marriage tend to have high per capita incomes in part because job growth is so low that young families move out of state--most likely to a state with a marriage amendment and more robust economic growth."

See NOM's ad here:

NOM's Full Page Ad in Columbus (IND) Republic

Thanks to each of you who have contacted your legislators in support of this important measure. Today's vote was a huge victory as we work to bring the amendment across the finish line.

The Senate has passed this measure five times in the past. Gay marriage advocates know they can't block the measure in the Senate—their best hope is to delay the process with changes that would need to be approved again by the House. Such a move would delay and perhaps kill the amendment amidst the ongoing budget and union disputes in the House.

Please take a moment today to contact your state senator, urging him or her to vote for the amendment as drafted. Click here to send your message today!

Update - the Associated Press has picked up the news as has the local Journal Gazette.

ATTN INDIANA MARRIAGE DEFENDERS: Take part in NOM's Indiana Action Alert and tell your state senators to vote on the bill as it's written and without delay!

The arguments for gay marriage get ever stranger:

This week in Indiana, Jill Cook, an executive from engine-maker Cummins Inc., testified that a proposed state marriage amendment "jeopardizes our ability to be competitive in global markets."

I hope Cook was not testifying under oath, because that's an amazing whopper of a claim, and one that we are hearing more and more often. [Continue reading]

Tennessee’s marriage amendment [which passed by 81% in 2006] carries some of the most powerful language protecting marriage of all the 30 states that have passed amendments (by an average vote of about 68%, BTW). More powerful than that being considered in Indiana.

So why now would Cummins, which boasts of its “top rating” by the radical Human Rights Campaign, publicly gnash its teeth over a proposed marriage amendment in one state after just months ago heralding their expansion into a state that already had a powerful amendment in place?

Maybe because in reality Cummins knows it’s not bad for business to set up shop in states that still understand the value of marriage…but it DOES have its HRC overlords to publicly appease.

Cummins, Inc. which makes engines and emissions control systems and mobile energy units for the Army, and stuff like that, is headquartered in Columbus, Indiana. During state senate hearings over the Indiana state marriage amendment Jill Cook, the vice president of human resources, testified that the marriage amendment would harm Cummins’ business and make the company reluctant to create jobs in Indiana.

“This resolution sends a powerful message that Indiana is not a place that welcomes people of all backgrounds, and it jeopardizes our ability to be competitive in global markets,” Ms. Cook testified.

I hope not under oath, or with her hand on a Bible, because that’s an amazing whopper we are hearing more and more often.

In Rhode Island, newly-elected Gov. Lincoln Chafee actually touted gay marriage as a serious and important part of his economic development plan for Rhode Island.

In his inaugural address he claimed passing gay marriage would do “more for economic growth in our state than any economic-development loan.” He’s taken to running around Providence brandishing a copy of the 2007 book “The Flight of the Creative Class” by Prof. Richard Florida, to try to prove his point.

“In January,” notes Providence Journal columnist Edward Fitzpatrick, “Chafee talked about Florida’s book when he chaired the state Economic Development Corporation Board for the first time. And during the February 6 edition of WJAR’s ‘10 News Conference,’ Chafee cited the book in making the case for legalizing same-sex marriage . . .”

On “10 News Conference,” Jim Taricani noted that in his inaugural speech, Chafee said, “Mark my words, those two actions will do more for economic growth in our state than any economic development loan.”

Taricani asked, “Do you have a factual basis for saying that? Has that been the case in other states?”

“Sure,” Chafee said. “Look at Silicon Valley. Look at Cambridge.” Taricani asked, “What did that have to do with gay marriage or illegal immigration?”

(Particularly since they don’t have gay marriage in Silicon Valley).

But undaunted Chafee persisted in digging his hole: “These are areas where innovation prospers. And there is a book out by Richard Florida people are talking about, and he’s making that exact point.”

Taricani asked, “What?”

“That you can look at economic growth where there is tolerance,” Chafee said.

Clearly a new meme has been launched. The people who launched it must be counting on the idea that nobody will bother to point out how ludicrously unsupported by the facts it is.

Whether or not “tolerance” is associated with economic growth, gay marriage is clearly not.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes yearly and trend data on economic growth, including the year’s increase in personal income per capita.

Take a look at this chart: eight of the top ten states with the fasted growth in per capital personal income from 1999-2009 have state marriage amendments. None have gay marriage.

1999-2009 average annual growth rate of PCPI (Per capita personal income)

State                PCPI increase     Marriage amendment?

Wyoming        5.9%
North Dakota 5.7%                    Yes
Louisiana        5.3%                    Yes
Montana         4.7%                    Yes
Oklahoma       4.6%                   Yes
South Dakota 4.4%                   Yes
Hawaii             4.4%                   Yes
West Virginia  4.3%
Arkansas          4.2%                  Yes
Alaska              4.2%                   Yes

Or consider another potential measure of a state’s business climate: What do CEO’s think? Chief Executive magazine annually surveys 543 CEOs to identify which states are the best and the worst for job growth and business. In 2009, the top five states were: Texas, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. Four out of five have marriage amendments, and none have gay marriage.

(The worst? California, New York, Michigan, New Jersey, and yes, Massachusetts.)

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also compiles a list of states that are the top "overall growth performers" a measure which combines job growth rate since 2000, and since 2007, gross state product (GSP), real GSP growth since 2000, GSO per job 2008, and growth in GSP per job. The top five states in overall growth performance (in descending order): North Dakota, Virginia, South Dakota, Maryland and Wyoming.  The top three all have state marriage amendments, none have gay marriage (Indeed the Maryland legislature in a surprise move rejected a gay marriage bill this month after a powerful public outpouring of objections, including from black churches).

Perhaps my favorite data point comes from this same recent U.S. Chamber of Commerce survey (“Enterprising States”) which includes a ranking for what it called “middle-class job growth.” These are presumably the good jobs that the creative class seeks or fosters or whatever.

What are the top five states for growing middle-class jobs between 2002 and 2009? Utah, Wyoming, Nevada, Hawaii and Texas.

True of these five states one—Wyoming—does not have a marriage amendment—yet. It almost passed one, this year however. If it did, perhaps its middle class job growth will come plunging to a halt, but somehow I doubt it.

The tiny number of liberal northeastern states that have embraced gay marriage tend to have high per capita incomes, because they are much older, supporting fewer children, and much whiter, and better educated than average. They are older in part because with so little job growth, young adults with families move elsewhere, most likely to a southern state with a marriage amendment that enjoys more robust economic growth.

Why would a representative from Cummins, Inc. make such a ludicrous claim that we would say misleads the public, if it were not for the fact the public finds it ludicrous too? We do not know, we say, shaking our heads in amazement.

But a few days ago Cummins’s CEO Tim Solso was appointed to Pres. Obama's Presidential Management Advisory Board.

A bit of behind the scenes back-scratching?

We’ll never know for sure.

One thing we do know for sure: if gay marriage is a big part of your governor’s or your business leaders’ idea of an economic development plan, your state is in trouble.

[For a printable version of this article, click here.]

A committee vote [on the proposed state marriage amendment] will come next week, then the full Senate would weigh in. It has passed that chamber numerous times in the past.

If it passes again, no other action is necessary this session because it already passed the House.

The legislature must approve the measure again in 2013 or 2014 before reaching the ballot for Hoosiers to make the final decision in 2014. (Journal Gazette)

Last month the same proposal passed the Indiana House of Representatives 70-26, with over 40 co-sponsors including the Speaker of the House. Should the bill pass the Senate, Hoosiers could eventually have their say in 2014.

Good news out of the Hoosier State!

HJR 6, the Marriage Protection Amendment, just passed the Indiana House with 70 votes... 70-26.

The bill had nearly 40 co-authors, including the Speaker of the House, Brian Bosma.

Congrats to Micah Clark of AFA-IN, Focus on the Family, the Indiana Family Institute, and to all the other pro-family groups that worked so hard on this.

UPDATE: Local Press and the Associated Press have picked up this news.

Our friends in Indiana say their Judiciary Committee just passed the Marriage Protection Amendment on a straight party line vote of 8-4.

UPDATE: the Associated Press confirms.

Republican lawmakers in Indiana are resuming their push for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

A legislative hearing is scheduled for Monday. Opponents say the amendment isn't needed because Indiana law already bans gay marriage, but supporters worry that courts could overturn that law.

An amendment banning gay marriage passed the General Assembly in 2005 when Republicans controlled the House and Senate, but constitutional amendments must go through two separate Legislatures before being put to a public vote. In 2006, Democrats won control of the House and the proposal never cleared that chamber.

Republicans now control both chambers, giving the proposal a better shot of passing. If it clears the Legislature this year, it would have to pass again in 2013 or 2014 before getting on the ballot.

Indiana University at South Bend will resume its use of Chick-fil-A’s campus services on Wednesday after suspending the restaurant chain over its plans to provide free lunches for a Pennsylvania conference on traditional marriage.

The restaurant’s services on IUSB’s campus have featured Chick-fil-A meals with the famous chicken sandwiches and milkshakes every Wednesday at two dining locations: the Courtside Cafe and the Grille.

But the restaurant chain, known nationally as a family-held Christian business that does not open on Sundays, was barred late last month at the demand of Campus Ally Network, a pro-gay campus group.

“Last week, Chancellor [Una Mae] Reck ordered a review of the suspension. The review was completed today, and based on a more complete understanding of the facts, Chancellor Reck ordered the end of the suspension. At this time, Chick-fil-A is a full-service food provider for IU South Bend with no restrictions,” said Ken Bairl, IUSB’s director of communications and marketing in a written statement.

Hopefully we can now all go back to enjoying our "chikin" again!

Dear Friends of Marriage,

After passing the state senate by an overwhelming 38-10 margin in late January, the Indiana Marriage Amendment has now been formally transferred to the House for consideration.

Preliminary vote tallies already show a majority of House members in favor of the amendment, with a number still undecided. But House Speaker Patrick Bauer is threatening to bury the bill in committee, without even receiving a hearing in the Democrat-controlled House.

Use this link to send an email to your state representative, urging him or her to support SJR 13, and to press Speaker Bauer to allow the measure to come up for a committee hearing and floor vote.

For six years, the House leadership has blocked the marriage amendment on procedural maneuvers, preventing the bill from ever coming to a vote of the full House, where the amendment is expected to pass easily.

Tell your representative that it's time for action! While Indiana has been considering the issue, thirty other states have already amended their state constitutions to protect marriage. And even once things start moving, amending the Indiana Constitution is at least a 4-year process. We simply can't afford to wait until our opponents gain a court victory before working to protect marriage as it's always been.

Please contact your state representative today!

Use this link to send an email, or click here to look up the phone number for your representative!

Blessings,
Brian S. Brown
Executive Director
National Organization for Marriage
20 Nassau Street, Suite 242
Princeton, NJ 08542
bbrown@nationformarriage.org

P.S.: Please don't forget to forward this message to at least three friends! Our elected officials need to hear from us today!