Here's what I sent, individually, to the members of the Senate Rules and Legislative Procedure committee, which will be the next body to consider HJR-3. (I excepted those who have already come out against the resolution, or who have unrelated reasons to loathe me and thus to support anything I oppose.)
You will soon vote on whether to incorporate a prohibition
on gay marriage into a state constitution otherwise notable for preserving
individual liberty.
There has been much talk about "letting the people
vote" -- but if there were not a crucial role for legislative judgment in
amending our state constitution, HJR-3 would not have to win General Assembly
approval in two separate legislative sessions.
Public sentiment, in Indiana
and nationwide, has changed significantly since this House held its first vote
on what is now HJR-3. By making it exceptionally difficult for Indiana to adapt to the
times, HJR-3 would do serious damage to our ability to attract and keep
employers and investors. Moreover, even if Indiana would somehow benefit from the loss
of many current and prospective gay citizens, it can scarcely afford to
discourage all the bright, talented young people who would shun any state that
treats their friends and family members as second-class citizens.
Nor will this amendment do what many of its proponents hope,
and insulate Indiana
from judicial interference in its social institutions. If, as seems likely,
same-sex marriage is eventually seen in this country as comparable to (and no
more controversial than) mixed-race marriage, then not even a constitutional
amendment will prevent the federal judiciary from becoming involved. Moreover,
our own courts will be increasingly burdened with the tangles inevitably
resulting from our failure to recognize a legal status recognized by more and
more other states. Ironically, the one reason any gay adult might have, under
these circumstances, to relocate to Indiana
would be the wish to evade the legal consequences and responsibilities of an
existing same-sex marriage.
I urge you, as well, to look at the human costs, as opposed
to the highly speculative, intangible and undemonstrable "benefits,"
of this amendment. Thousands of children growing up in loving families would be
confronted with a state declaration that their parents were different, lesser,
even dangerous to their society's values. Hoosiers already battling
life-threatening illness would in some cases be forced to do so without their
loved ones by their sides. Should they lose that battle, they would face their
final hours in fear that their children might lose their surviving parent as
well, due to the inability of courts to recognize that parental status.
(All these consequences, of course, would be immeasurably
increased should the Senate revert to HJR-3's original and more draconian
language.)
I urge you to exercise your legislative oversight and stop
this ill-considered proposal before more damage is done.
Sincerely,
Karen A. Wyle
