Protesters from Jesus Metropolitan Community Church, a congregation of 400 located on the northeast side of Indianapolis, held signs reading "Would Jesus Discriminate?" and conducted a loud protest atthe Indiana Statehouse today as the Senate took a preliminary vote approving an amendment that would ban same-sex marriage and civil unions in the state.
The vote came after an attempt to strike civil unions the anti-gay legislation.
For the second time in six days, senators have rejected civil unions as a potential middle ground in the gay-marriage debate. On a 36-11 party-line vote, the Senate shot down a proposal by Anderson Democrat Tim Lanane to delete a ban on civil unions from a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. The Senate Judiciary Committee had rejected a similar attempt by Lanane last week.
A final vote could come as soon as tomorrow.
The Indianapolis Star reports:
Senators were starting to discuss amendments to a resolution that would add a ban on gay marriage to the state’s constitution when one man in the balcony began shouting and others joined him. Senate President Pro Tem David Long then ordered the balcony seating closed. As they filed out, the roughly 40 audience members yelled “jobs not hate” — a statement on what they think the Senate’s priorities should be.
WIBC adds: "State police cleared and locked the gallery, though protesters in the hallway could still be heard in the chamber for several minutes."
Watch raw news video of the protesters, AFTER THE JUMP...