Activists fight for marriage equality

Activists looking to halt a proposed Indiana Constitutional amendment further banning same-sex marriage pitched their agenda in Bloomington Sunday.

Freedom Indiana, which organized a community meeting at the Unitarian Universalist Church, claims to be a statewide bipartisan coalition of businesses, faith leaders, civil rights and community organizations and individuals united to defeat House Joint Resolution 6.

HJR-6 is an amendment that would ban all protections for same-sex couples and their families and remove existing protection for unmarried Hoosiers.

If enacted, the amendment would prohibit future legislatures from passing a law that would allow same-sex couples to legally marry.

Peter Hanscom, deputy campaign manager for Freedom Indiana, said this was the first community meeting in Bloomington.

“We know we have a huge activist community here that’s used to being active and contacting legislature,” Hanscom said.

During the meeting, people filled tables in the church while the group gave a presentation and shared its steps to defeat the amendment.

Donations were also accepted during the meeting in order to support the campaign, and people were asked to help in multiple ways, from signing up for a phone-bank shift to throwing a letter-writing party.

Rick Sutton, Indiana Equality action executive director, said they want to stop the legislation before it goes to ballot.

If the legislation for HJR-6 gets passed again in 2014, then it will go to ballot, Sutton said.

Sutton said the efforts are important because letting the already existing statute equivalent to HJR-6 get to the Indiana Constitution will make it much more difficult to change.

Sutton said people need to contact all legislators in Indiana through personal visits, phone calls and letters.

Matt Marko, a Freedom Indiana IU campus organizer, said he moved to Indiana from Maine to participate in the Freedom Indiana campaign and has also worked on marriage equality campaigns in Rhode Island and Maine.

Hanscom said officials need to hear real stories.

“Legislature need to hear from the people this is directly affecting,” Hanscom said.

Follow reporter Mary Hauber on Twitter @mary_hauber.