A divisive issue in Indiana is garnering attention again after a proposed amendment to ban same-sex marriage took another step forward this week.
On Tuesday, the state Senate voted 40-10 on the ban, which would also affect civil unions and any arrangements "substantially similar" to marriage. The House voted a month ago, approving the ban 70-26.
Representatives of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning/queer community at Ball State expressed their disappointment about Tuesday's vote. Kyle Stepler, vice president of Spectrum, said a passing of the ban could make many members of the GLBTQ community rethink their future in Indiana, bringing difficulties to the economy.
"They have the same idea as me, ‘Well, I'm not going to live in Indiana because I can't get married,'" he said. "So, Indiana is going to have a decrease in economic status because they're going to lose people who have skills to do certain jobs, and they're going to move to different places."
Ball State SafeZone coordinator Jay Zimmerman said the amendment is a blow to equality.
"What I feel is that it's bigotry masked as political action," he said.
Zimmerman said there are several reasons why Indiana residents should worry about the amendment.
"The basic issue is equality, but it will also become more difficult to recruit people or make people stay in the state," he said.
The amendment's sponsor, Republican Sen. Dennis Kruse of Auburn, said giving the strongest possible protection to traditional marriage was good public policy for the state.
"The family is the basic unit of our society," Kruse said to The Associated Press. "... Marriage is — and should be — the union of one man and one woman."
But Linda Ponterio, communications chairwoman for Indiana Equality Action, said she didn't see the point of the amendment.
"This does nothing to stimulate the economy or jobs," she said. "For the average Hoosier, or really any Hoosier, this does nothing for their civil rights either."
However, amendment supporters celebrated their victory. The Indiana Family Institute worked for years with the Senate to come up with a comprehensive amendment, with testimonies and research on what other states have done to ban same-sex marriage, director of operations and public policy Ryan McCann said.
"The people in Indiana are overwhelmingly supportive of traditional marriage," he said. "We've had trouble with leadership in the House, but that has changed."
The approval of the ban is just the first step in the process for it to become a part of the constitution. The next legislature, which is elected in 2012, would also have to vote on the ban in 2013 or 2014. Then the ban would go to the ballot to be passed or rejected by Indiana voters.
McCann said he is hopeful about the state legislation passing the ban again as long as "there is a pro-marriage majority in the House and Senate again."
"I'm very confident about what will happen in the future, but only God knows how that's going to come up," he said.
However, Stepler said he has hope in the future generations and more open-mindedness among the community.
"I think people's minds are being changed," he said. "Maybe it's not that they're changing their minds; maybe it's that the younger generations are more open minded, and not only to sexuality and things like that, but race and gender, there aren't those biases with the younger generations."
Ponterio said she hopes the community takes the issue seriously and takes more participation in politics.
"This is a very conservative state that does not have a history of supporting [the GLBTQ community]," she said. "I think it's necessary to take this seriously."
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