Pleased That Gay Marriage Amendment Is Going Nowhere

I received a pleasant surprise when I sat down with this morning's The Indianapolis Star. Right there, on the front page, above the fold, was an article entitled "Gay-wed ban won't get hearing" (The Indianapolis Star, January 19, 2009). I'll save for another day a detailed discussion of why I oppose the ban. For the time being, let me simply state that as a heterosexual married father of two, I am adamantly opposed to a prohibition on same-sex marriage being written into the Constitution and I am very pleased to see that the Indiana House of Representatives won't be hearing this mean-spirited bill during this year's short session. Representative Scott Pelath is to be applauded for his statement:

The short session (of the legislature) was designed to deal with emergencies. We have a very serious problem with the property tax system, and we don’t have any gay marriages in Indiana.

Unlike Senator Drozda (whom I wrote about yesterday), it is clear that Rep. Pelath understands the role of the General Assembly (especially during the "short session") and that our legislature should not spend its time solving problems that don't exist or inserting religious values of some into the law that governs all.

Those who feel as I do should call Rep. Pelath's office and thank him for his courageous stand on this morally-divisive, mean-spirited issue. His contact information can be found on his official page at the Indiana General Assembly's website.