Members of the Indiana House Elections and Apportionment Committee on Jan. 22 advanced HJR-3, a bill that would amend the state's constitution to ban gay marriage. The bill now moves to the House floor.
Members of the committee voted along party lines, with nine Republicans in favor and three Democrats against HJR-3.
Indiana is one of only four states banning gay marriage without a constitutional amendment. Marriage equality opponents want to see the ban written into the constitution to head off possible legal challenges, which have become more frequent since the federal government recognized gay marriages last year.
The bill seemed to be stalled after a Jan. 13 hearing of the House Judiciary Committee. In a move that angered many marriage equality supporters, House Speaker Brian Bosma had the bill transferred to the more conservative Elections and Apportionment Committee.
"It feels like getting the rug pulled out from under us," Jennifer Wagner, spokesperson for Freedom Indiana, told Huffington Post.
Bilerico.com reported that Andrew Markle, an openly gay Republican candidate for state representative, resigned from the GOP in response to Bosma's power play.
Markle wrote on his Facebook page, "As an openly gay male and a conservative, I find it deplorable that the state would choose to take such extraordinary measures to disenfranchise me and my fellow LGBT brothers and sisters. … I am not leaving the Republican Party; the Republican Party has left me."
Markle added that his campaign would continue without his GOP party affiliation.
Huffington Post's report can be read here: www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/22/indiana-marriage-equality_n_4645340.html .
Bilerico's report can be read here:
www.bilerico.com/2014/01/indiana_gop_forces_marriage_push_candidate_quits.php .
Markle's Facebook announcement is at: www.facebook.com/andrew.markle/posts/10203466935942459 .