(By Phyllis Klosinski Brown County, IN)
The proposal of two Constitutional Amendments has created a firestorm of religious, sexual and governmental policy debate in the LPIN’s Libertarian Legislative Think Tank (LLTT).
A Constitutional amendment must be provided extreme diligence. Caution: once enacted, forever hold your peace.
The LP platform holds personal relationships are individual choice and government has no authority to define, license or restrict. The Indiana Constitution established governmental power not the limits of individual rights and was written to protect individual rights, not collective rights of any union or group; Sec. 4 prohibits preference by law to any creed or religious society.
Existing Indiana Code, IC 31-11 et seq. defines marriage, in terms similar to the proposed constitutional amendments. The definition in the proposed amendments in all practical aspects is currently in place in Indiana government. Prohibitions against same gender, relative, bigamous marriage, and age requirements are law. Common law marriage entered into after 1958 is void. LLTT input has centered on belief that religious forces drive this bill, in order to outlaw personal choice. Equality protections recognizing personal choice have already been removed by the state of Indiana. Upon review of these amendments, and Article 11 the purpose of these amendments appears directed at granting government authority and legalizing the sections of Family Law, which have no authority under the Constitution and are contrary to LP principles. The definition of marriage already exists in Indiana Code, which provides the basis for unconstitutional challenges to Marriage standards.
Proposed Senate Joint Resolution 0013 and House Joint Resolution 0006 are contrary to the Indiana Constitution, and the Libertarian Platform. A vigorous effort to defeat both proposals in their current form and an effort to replace the definition of marriage with a Constitutional Amendment guaranteeing true freedom of choice with equal protection and rights for all individuals should be directed toward the Authors. LP should make efforts to propose repeal of discriminatory sections of Article 11. The Indiana Constitution and Statutes should be enacted to protect individual liberties, not to provide the government protection for unconstitutional impositions.
To register your position and request an explanation of why these amendments were written in current language contacts are:
Senate Joint Resolution 0013, Authors; Tomes, Holdman, Kruse, Smith, Jr., Nugent, Banks, Waltz.
House Joint Resolution 0006, Authors; Turner, Cheatham