Comments on Advance Indiana™: Senate Profiles In Courage

9:22 was ON THE MONEY!!! Stop trying to pervert m...

2007-02-04T00:37:00.000-05:00

9:22 was ON THE MONEY!!! Stop trying to pervert marriage. Marriage is an institution created by God.

Stop the evil distortions by a constitutional amendment as soon as we can!

Can I get some more SJR-7 info ... I don't feel l...

2007-02-02T14:48:00.000-05:00

Can I get some more SJR-7 info ...

I don't feel like it has received adequate coverage on this site.

...and the Democratic Party, now in charge in the ...

2007-02-02T08:17:00.000-05:00

...and the Democratic Party, now in charge in the House, did us a "favor" by having the Speaker flip-flop on a vote on the Amendment?

Looks like the phrase "being had" is not confined to sex, Republicans or Democrats.

Sad but true.

I'm just wondering when AI and the other GLBT Repu...

2007-02-01T22:03:00.000-05:00

I'm just wondering when AI and the other GLBT Repugs are going to wake up and see that the heart and soul of the party they embrace despises their very existence...?!? You've been played HARD.

Thanks, Tracy. That post kinda sucked the oxygen ...

2007-02-01T14:24:00.000-05:00

Thanks, Tracy.

That post kinda sucked the oxygen out of the room.

anon 9:23 I would like to invite you to visit the...

2007-02-01T10:53:00.000-05:00

anon 9:23

I would like to invite you to visit the Damien Center, where I will show you our Faces of AIDS wall, whereon family and friends of those who have died can display a photograph of their loved one. You can then explain to me what 9 year old Jeffery, or a straight 64 year old Presbyterian minister, or a 32 year old young woman did to deserve a loving God's vengeance. Do you have the courage?

This Constitution or any other Indiana law may not...

2007-02-01T10:39:00.000-05:00

This Constitution or any other Indiana law may not be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents of marriage be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups.

I think that passage should be emphasised every time this amendment is discussed so that its plain meaning cannot be ignored. Sen. Lubbers contention that it doesn't bind the hands of future legislators is ridiculous. What happens if a future General Assembly passes a law that says: Same sex couples cannot be married, however if they take steps x, y, and z, a same sex couple will have equal legal rights as a heterosexual married couple.

Obviously the General Assembly can pass that law, but it will be ineffective. Courts couldn't enforce it under the new Constitutional provision.

It gets a little murkier, but Courts still probably couldn't enforce a law passed by the General Assembly conferring one or two (but not all) of the legal incidents of marriage upon same sex couples. Want to allow same sex couples to own real estate by the entireties? Can't do it, I don't think.

Thanks, anon 11:30. I wasn't asked to testify, and...

2007-01-31T23:33:00.000-05:00

Thanks, anon 11:30. I wasn't asked to testify, and I didn't attend the hearing because I had to attend a court hearing in Hamilton County for one of my clients.

Gary, your legal analysis could have really been u...

2007-01-31T23:30:00.000-05:00

Gary, your legal analysis could have really been used at the hearing today. Our side didn't have anyone testify who could articulate these legal points like you do. Why didn't you come and testify today?

Matt, the legislature can pass any law it wants. A...

2007-01-31T23:23:00.000-05:00

Matt, the legislature can pass any law it wants. A court interpreting such a law would be bound by the language of paragraph 2, which renders the law unenforcible. Similarly, the governor could issue an executive order granting domestic partner benefits to state employees, but a court would be required to render it null and void under this amendment. We're really arguing about whether the chicken or the egg came first. In the final analysis, the second paragraph makes it impossible to enforce a civil unions law or a law or order allowing domestic partner benefits for public employees.

AA, I asked yesterday how the second paragraph o...

2007-01-31T23:15:00.000-05:00

AA,

I asked yesterday how the second paragraph of this bloody amendment would prohibit the state legislature from actually enacting domestic partner/civil union legislation (not they'd currently be inclined to...). Specifically, I focused on the word "construed", which I took to mean "legally interpreted by a judicial body".

Can you provide us specific examples, vis a vis legal rulings and/or legislative acts from this state or others that would actually show that the legislature would NOT have the ability to enact such legislation?

And since you mentioned "special rights", that's e...

2007-01-31T22:32:00.000-05:00

And since you mentioned "special rights", that's exactly what this amendment does. It preserves a right to marry and the incidental benefits thereof to straight couples only and specifically excludes such rights to other unmarried couples, straight or gay. This will become a part of the Indiana Bill of Rights--making it the first such exclusionary right to be written into that document. That's what I call a "special right."

Uuhh, anon 10:09, no talk of special rights here--...

2007-01-31T22:27:00.000-05:00

Uuhh, anon 10:09, no talk of special rights here--only equal rights. And if you bothered to read the document, you won't find any "special rights" for heterosexuals either.

Kevin and LPerdue are male and female - about 50% ...

2007-01-31T22:13:00.000-05:00

Kevin and LPerdue are male and female - about 50% of all heterosexual couples indulge in anal sex. The issue isnt about butt-fucking - it's about marriage between two consenting adults. Who does what with what to whom is nobodies business!

Still no mention of specific rights for "Indiana's...

2007-01-31T22:09:00.000-05:00

Still no mention of specific rights for "Indiana's gay & lesbian citizens"!

Seems they do not have the special rights you mentioned in this blog originally!

There is no restriction placed by SJR-7. SJR-7 merely keeps the unity of marriage and rights, privileges, and opportunities for their proper intention.

2007-01-31T22:08:00.000-05:00

This comment has been removed by the author.

Well since you asked, let's see some of what it sa...

2007-01-31T21:50:00.000-05:00

Well since you asked, let's see some of what it says in Article I, Section 1 (Indiana's Bill of Rights):

Section 1. WE DECLARE, That all people are created equal; that they are endowed by their CREATOR with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;

Section 4. No preference shall be given, by law, to any creed, religious society, or mode of worship; and no person shall be compelled to attend, erect, or support, any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry, against his consent.

Section 23. The General Assembly shall not grant to any citizen, or class of citizens, privileges or immunities, which, upon the same terms, shall not equally belong to all citizens.

To see comments like anonymous at 9:22 is really d...

2007-01-31T21:39:00.000-05:00

To see comments like anonymous at 9:22 is really disturbing to know there are people like that out there so angry and closed minded.

Kudos to 9:29! The Constitution does not mentio...

2007-01-31T21:37:00.000-05:00

Kudos to 9:29!

The Constitution does not mention anything about rights for "gay & lesbian citizens"

AI, please start getting IP addresses and publish ...

2007-01-31T21:32:00.000-05:00

AI, please start getting IP addresses and publish them.

Gary, I got to call a lie for what it is, a LIE! ...

2007-01-31T21:29:00.001-05:00

Gary, I got to call a lie for what it is, a LIE! When you say SJR-7 "foments hate and bigotry against Indiana's gay and lesbian citizens and strip them of rights guaranteed under our constitution"....you are lying!

First off, where in your copy of the Constitution are any rights guaranteed to "Indiana's gay & lesbian citizens". Funny, Gary, can't find reference in my copy of the Constitution.

Perversion is perversion. Nobody wrote about it in the Constitution.

Cowards who hide behind anonymous comments are no ...

2007-01-31T21:29:00.000-05:00

Cowards who hide behind anonymous comments are no different than men who wear white sheets to get their ignorant point across.

Any rump rangers heard of God's vengance? What is...

2007-01-31T21:23:00.000-05:00

Any rump rangers heard of God's vengance? What is AIDS?

Kevin & LPerdue: you can anally avenge each other...

2007-01-31T21:22:00.000-05:00

Kevin & LPerdue: you can anally avenge each other and probe the anus all you want under SJR-7.

You cannot get married!

SJR-7 upholds basic human decency.

SJR-7 is about bigotry, homophobia, and ignorance,...

2007-01-31T20:12:00.000-05:00

SJR-7 is about bigotry, homophobia, and ignorance, Anonymous 6:40.

Gary is absolutely right as is Dave. If the Republican senators really want to reinforce family values and prevent the corrruption of the "unity of marriage", they need to get out of their dungeons and work on the divorce rate.