The full Indiana House will consider the constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage this week, and a survey of lawmakers shows that the landscape has changed markedly since the last time such a measure was considered, but not enough to kill it.
The Indianapolis Star reports:
More than a third of the Indiana House members who voted for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in 2011 now plan to vote against it or are wavering.
The number switching to support the amendment? Zero….
…Of the 100 House members, 38 plan to vote for the measure, House Joint Resolution 3, while 38 plan to vote against it. The other 24 said they were undecided (13) or declined to comment (11).
That gives opponents a better shot than most anyone expected just weeks ago, but they still need to woo 13 noncommitted lawmakers — including at least 11 Republicans — to kill the ban.
“Everyone assumed it would be closer this time than in 2011,” said Andy Downs, director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. “But this is a lot closer than I think people would have expected.