INDIANAPOLIS, March 15 (UPI) -- Opponents of a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in Indiana say they are fighting for equality.
Several hundred people rallied at Indiana's Statehouse in Indianapolis Monday, chanting "Nix Six," referring to the measure, House Joint Resolution 6, The Indianapolis Star reported.
The proposed legislation has passed the state House 70-26 and is set for a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, the Star said.
The measure must pass the current Legislature, then the one that will be elected in 2012, and finally get voter approval in a referendum in the 2014 general election to become an amendment to the state Constitution, the newspaper said.
The amendment would not only limit marriage to the union of one man and one woman, but would also bar civil unions or any other arrangement that would afford the same legal rights as traditional marriage, opponents said.
"Every generation has that thing they have to fight for," said Dorothy Vanore, 19, of Indianapolis, referring to struggles for women's right to vote and minorities' civil rights. "It's our turn to fight for who we want to marry."
"Ultimately, the public will decide if we're going to change our constitution as 30 other states have done," said Republican state Rep. Eric Turner, who has been promoting the amendment for seven years.
"It's simply defining what marriage is, and if two people want to live together in something else, that's their choice, either as a heterosexual couple or a homosexual couple," he said.
