I was cheered up immensely

It can be a bit gloomy for a liberal living in the Midwest but I was cheered up immensely this morning by an article about gay marriage in the Indianapolis Star.

In 2011 the General Assembly in Indiana approved a amendment which said:

“Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Indiana. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized.”

No surprises there.

But – a new coalition called “Freedom Indiana” has been formed to fight this amendment – which goes before the Assembly again in 2014 and – if approved - will then go before voters.

And – here is the good part – the coalition is supported by some of Indiana’s major businesses – including Cate’s employer Ducky Pharma. They are doing this on the basis that - with laws such as this in place they are not able to attract the very best people to Indianapolis – which in any case is a difficult task given the location and politics of the city.

Indeed we know personally of a gay couple who declined to leave Europe for Indianapolis because of the certain prejudice they would face here.

I just don’t get the objection to gay marriage. It’s not as though marriage is a finite resource so that if a gay couple gets hitched – then  a heterosexual couple misses out. I think there is enough to go around.

And – while I respect the right of other people to not endorse gay marriage – I do not think that they have the right to deny this type of union – and its attendant benefits -  to a large part of the population.

But then I don’t mind either if people vote Republican – as long as we have a Democrat as President.