|
WINDY CITY TIMES
|
|
|
VIEWS Meanwhile, in Indiana...
by Kim Flowers 2013-12-04
|
|
This article shared 3755 times since Wed Dec 4, 2013
|
|
The passage of marriage equality in Illinois is so exciting! My wife and I had what I like to call our illegal ceremony with family three years ago, and we've been talking about a D.C. marriage ever since DOMA was overturned. Upon hearing the good news next door, we're now going to consider a Chicago wedding. But this victory is also bittersweet, because in our own state things aren't going so well.
A piece of legislation called HJR-6, which would place a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in Indiana, was already passed last year in the Indiana House and Senate, and it's up for another vote this year. I always thought Indiana would be one of the last states standing in opposition to marriage equality, but I don't want to see us taking steps backward while the rest of the country moves forward. However, a surprising outpouring of support for equal marriage has risen from Hoosiers who want to show our legislators that gay families and straight allies do exist in Indiana. Universities, corporations and even clergy are declaring their disapproval of HJR-6. Hundreds of Hoosiers have written their legislators, including me. My family is one of countless others who have been doing what we can to get around our lack of legal recognition. I got my last name changed in court to be the same as my wife's. We have a child together, and my wife co-adopted our son. Our wills should take care of any loopholes left over, hopefully. If we get married in another state, we can now obtain federal benefits. I still can't put my wife on my insurance through my job, and she can't do the same for me, but at least we get to choose which of our insurance policies will work best for our son, and he legally belongs to both of us. But even co-parent adoption has been rumored to be under fire lately, though I don't think anything is on the table right now.
If HJR-6 doesn't pass, all it will mean is we have avoided a constitutional ban for now. Last summer the Indianapolis City-County Council passed an ordinance providing domestic partner benefits for city and county workers, so we have been taking small forward steps to this moment. But I do believe that if we can get this to be opposed or even just never voted on, it will pave the way to eventual marriage rights sometime in the future. Bumper stickers and signs in oppositions to HJR-6 are cropping up in this supposed right-wing state. For the citizens who are blind to just how large the gay community is in Indiana, I think they're finding out now that we're here in numbers ( in case they haven't been paying attention to the thousands of people who attend Circle City Pride every June in Indianapolis. )
The best-case scenario right now is that our lives do not change at all. If the ban passes, HJR-6 will be put on the ballot in 2014. If a ban on gay marriage is voted on and passed, some rights we now take for granted such as being able to visit our partner in the hospital or making wills bestowing property to our spouses could be reversed. The people of Illinois might be getting a lot more visits from their neighbors to the east in the near future! For more information on how to get involved to oppose HJR-6, you can go here: http://www.indianaequalityaction.org/get-informed/nix-6/
Kim Flowers lives in Indiana with her wife and son. She has multiple short stories and novels published through QueerTeen Press ( kimflowersbooks.weebly.com ). |
|
|
|
This article shared 3755 times since Wed Dec 4, 2013
|
ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE |
---|
|
| | SAVOR 'Hot Ones,' 101 complex opening, Casati's closing, Crumbl 2024-04-20 - —Feeling hot, hot, hot: The addictive show Hot Ones is coming to Chicago, Time Out Chicago noted. First We Feast is teaming with Stella Artois to bring the show/YouTube sensation—which has featured guests such as Tyra ...
|
| | VIEWPOINT Meditation on the killing of journalists 2024-04-11 - Trigger warning: I am a journalist and I read newspapers. I've been reading newspapers since I first learned to read. Newspapers were a lively part of the daily life in my family. I even wrote letters ...
|
| | VIEWS Mike Johnson: The smiling face of Christian tyranny 2024-02-14 - Mike Johnson wants to rewrite the constitution to make the United States a Christian nation. James Michael Johnson, Republican from Louisiana's Fourth District, is the 56th speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was ...
|
| | VIEWS Parents, not legislators, should be making decisions about medical options for children 2024-02-06 By Jeffery M. Leving - No matter the medical issue, when it comes to kids, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said something last December that every lawmaker in the country should realize when it comes to medical decisions for children. "Were House ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Sundance items, Green Day, 'Wednesday,' Queerties, 'The Wiz' 2024-01-26 - At the Sundance Film Festival, Jodie Foster told Variety that the $1.4-billion success of Barbie helps confirm that Hollywood no longer views women directors as too much of a risk. She said, "With a big success ...
|
| | VIEWS Is the Pope Catholic? Francis faces opposition in steps toward LGBTQ+ inclusivity 2024-01-02 - The recent change in Vatican policy allowing priests to bless same-gender couples has provoked an unprecedented backlash against Pope Francis and his openness to LGBTQ+ people—a backlash that some fear might devolve into a schism in ...
|
| | Bring Chicago Home: Guess who's saying no again 2023-12-04 Commentary by Bob Palmer and Mark Swartz - Chicago is ushering in an era of change with a new progressive mayor with a vision to invest in communities long ignored and a significant increase in like-minded city council members. We are excited to see ...
|
| | Pope Francis's community of transwomen 2023-11-28 - It's a rare opportunity to meet the pope. It's even rarer if you're a transgender Catholic. However, on Nov. 19, in Torvaianica, Italy, a community of transwomen, many of them sex workers, were welcomed and seated ...
|
| | Banning the Banning of Books: Illinois and California lead the way 2023-10-26 - In June, at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago, Governor JB Pritzker signed legislation banning book bans in Illinois public libraries. This legislation, initiated by Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, passed the Illinois House and ...
|
| | OPINION Renewing state's Invest in Kids program is investing in anti-LGBTQ+ hate 2023-10-23 - In February 2020, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield warned transgender students in the Diocese's educational system that they "may be expelled from the school" if they live their lives authentically. Lansing Christian School ...
|
| | Gilbert Baker Foundation reacts to death of shop owner who flew the rainbow flag 2023-08-29 --From a press release - In response to the murder of Laura Ann Carleton over flying the Rainbow flag in her shop in California, the Gilbert Baker Foundation released the statement below. Facebook refused to post the statement as it did not "...meet their standards." ...
|
| | VIEWPOINT U.S. higher education under siege; freedom of inquiry and speech at risk 2023-07-03 - The Covid pandemic threw a harsh spotlight on higher education in America, exposing forces eating away at the foundations of college and university learning, calling into question the traditional purposes of such education in our post-modern, ...
|
| | Guest essay by Florida mom Nicole Pejovich: What's Happening to Florida's Public Schools? 2023-06-19 Related video below - A queer Florida parent answers questions about recent laws, how Floridians are coping, and how you can help Books pulled from school library shelves by the dozens. All evidence of inclusivity stripped from classrooms. The politically ...
|
| | VIEWPOINT For divorced parents, transgender children's health can present tricky dilemmas 2023-06-12 - Over the last few months, issues impacting individuals who identify as transgender and non-binary are getting a lot of attention in the media and among some politicians. Sadly, because it's become a political issue; a lot ...
|
| | VIEWPOINT War in the 21st Century: mercenaries, private military companies, private armies 2023-05-20 - In 2022, $407 billion of the Pentagon budget—representing half of that year's funding —were obligated to private contractors, of which a significant number were Private Military Companies (PMCs) involved in ...
| |
|
|
|
|