Give it up, Republicans

Every year since 2005, Republicans have introduced a bill in the Indiana General Assembly to amend the state’s constitution to ban gay marriage, and every time the proposed amendment has failed. They should take a hint and stop wasting time debating this prejudiced amendment.

The negative consequences of constitutional bans on gay marriage are many. Amendments with almost the exact same wording that have passed in neighboring states such as Ohio have been interpreted by courts to permanently ban not only gay marriage but also same-sex civil unions, gay adoption, single-parent adoptions and adoptions by non-married straight couples.

Furthermore, the amendment would build upon a long legacy of undue restrictions on the freedoms of gay people in committed relationships and gay people in general.

The damage caused by not granting same-sex marriages is hurtful and real: People in committed same-sex relationships are capriciously denied the right to make medical decisions on their partner’s behalf when their partner is incapacitated, collect their partner’s Social Security benefits upon their partner’s death, collect survivor and health insurance benefits, and take family leave to care for their ill spouse. These are just a few of the 1,100 other basic rights taken for granted by couples who are allowed to marry that are denied to same-sex couples simply because of their sexual orientation.

Marriage is one of the most fundamental and basic sacraments of the state, and it should not be arbitrarily and unfairly denied to an entire swath of the population that wants to participate.

Indiana legislators are beginning  quite a tradition of annually debating and killing this amendment, and when this discriminatory marriage amendment comes before the General Assembly again for the fifth time in as many years, Indiana lawmakers should kill it like they have every other time.