Indiana sued for marriage law

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the State of Indiana because of its marriage law, which currently allows only religious leaders or state officials to make a marriage legal. The suit is on behalf of the Center for Inquiry, a secular organization.

Plaintiffs John Kiel and Michelle Landrum wish to have a non-religious ceremony but discovered it was not possible to conduct a legally binding non-religious ceremony.

“We got involved because me and John got engaged, and in our search to find someone to perform the ceremony, we just kept falling flat,” Landrum said.

According to Indiana Code 31-11-6-1, marriages can be solemnized by members of the clergy, judges, mayors, clerks and other specific government or religious leaders.
 
While some couples can find a city official to solemnize their marriage, many non-religious couples are unable to find one who fits their beliefs and philosophies, said Reba Boyd Wooden, the executive director of the Center for Inquiry’s Indiana branch.

“The law is about who can solemnize a marriage,” Boyd Wooden said. She also said court weddings are often sterile and lack the intimacy of a wedding ceremony.

Non-religious couples who want a ceremony still have to go to a government official,
making the marriage a two-step process, whereas religiously married couples only have one step.

“That’s privilege over non-religion,” Boyd Wooden said.

Boyd Wooden, Landrum and Kiel are suing under the First and 14th amendments, claiming that the Constitution protects them from such discrimination.

Landrum said that under current law, the type of ceremony she and Kiel would like to have is not possible.

“It still would require two ceremonies, which would give us two wedding dates,” Landrum said.

Opponents to the plaintiffs include the American Family Association, who released a statement urging people who disagree with the current solemnization policy to direct their complaints to the legislature.

Micah Clark, executive director of the American Family Association of Indiana, said there are various secular options for marriage ceremonies in Indiana.

“This incident should remind Hoosiers that the opponents of traditional marriage want to change our marriage laws through the fall of a gavel rather than through a vote of the people or our elected representatives,” Clark said in a statement.

Boyd Wooden said she has previously made an effort to engage the Indiana General Assembly in reform.

“People said, ‘Why don’t you go to the legislature?’ Five years ago I contacted every member of the legislature,” Boyd Wooden said. “A handful got back to me.”

None of the representatives wanted to spend time on a new bill since it might not pass, Boyd Wooden said.

For now, Landrum and Kiel are waiting for the result of the case, which has yet to be scheduled, to pick the date of their wedding. For them, the choice not to get married by an official or a religious leader is a no-brainer.

The case, which lists the Center of Inquiry as plaintiff and the clerk of the Marion Circuit Court as a defendant, was filed in the United States District Court Southern District of Indiana.

“We’d essentially be getting married by a stranger,” Landrum said.