A coalition of businesses and gay-marriage supporters has kicked off a promised push to block a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
The amendment is set for a required second vote in the House and Senate next year to send it to voters for a final decision in November. 56 current House members and 38 senators voted for the ban when it passed for the first time in 2011.
But leaders of the newly-formed Freedom Indiana say they‘re hoping to stop the amendment in the legislature, before it ever reaches a referendum.
Campaign manager Megan Robertson, a former strategist and spokeswoman for Republican officeholders, says she‘s talked to several legislators who are rethinking their support of the amendment. Robertson notes state law already prohibits same-sex marriage, and says conservatives should oppose cluttering up the constitution with language she says is both unnecessary and hurtful.
And she says polls over the last year show public opinion turning against a marriage ban. Freedom Indiana has financial muscle in the form of Lilly and Cummins, both of whom have publicly opposed the amendment for year. Lilly‘s Rob Smith says the new umbrella organization allows opponents to coordinate strategy.
