Indiana: State Senate committee moves anti-gay marriage amendment to full Senate by vote of 8+4

As expected, the Indiana state Senate Rules and Legislative Procedure Committee approved HJR-3, the current legislation which would allow for a statewide referendum to write a ban on marriage equality into the state's constitution.

All eight Republicans voted for the measure, all four Democrats voted against.  From IndyStar.com:

The decision came with no discussion by committee members about whether to restore the amendment’s second sentence, which would also ban civil unions and similar arrangements. The House removed that provision before sending the amendment to the Senate.

Instead, the Senate will likely take up the question of whether to restore the second sentence when the measure comes up for second reading before the full 50-member Senate. That could happen as early as Thursday.

The "second sentence" issue adds complications for the legislation as constitutional amendments have to be passed in their original form in two successive state legislatures. By changing the language of the original resolution, the second sentence must either be restored before going to voters for 2014 OR must be voted on by the next state congress before heading to voters in 2016.

Considering the quickly changing landscape of marriage equality, the longer it takes to get to voters - where polls show the electorate split - the tougher it will be for anti-gay marriage proponents to see their amendment passed.