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| So close, yet so far apart! |
On
so many issues, it seems that whatever one state does – the other will do the
exact opposite. Perhaps we ought to stare each other down while standing on
opposite sides of State Line Road.
ALTHOUGH
IN ALL honesty, a part of me thinks the REAL boundary between the two states is
Indianapolis Boulevard. Or perhaps somewhere just east of Gary down by the Indiana
Dunes.
The
latest issue that we can’t seem to agree upon is one that many of us can’t
reach a consensus on – whether or not gay couples ought to have any right to
the legal benefits derived from marriage.
The
trend is turning towards realizing that what one couple does really doesn’t
impact another couple. It’s not like anybody is talking about forced marriage
between two men, or anything even close.
But
there are those who have hang-ups when it comes to the concept of choice – if the
choice that one person makes somehow manages to offend the moral compass of
someone else.
PERSONALLY,
THE IDEA of denying someone their freedom of choice is what offends my moral
compass. But back to the issue, and the fact that our state’s legislators are
not on the same side of this.
For
the Chicago Sun-Times on Friday reported the musings of state Senate President
John Cullerton, D-Chicago, who says that a bill permitting gay couples to marry
in Illinois could get legislative approval this coming week and that he’d like
to have a final vote in the Illinois Senate on the issue one week from this
coming Thursday.
That,
of course, is Feb. 14, also known as Valentine’s Day. How sweet!
Although
I’m sure there are some ideologues out there who are now gagging at the very
thought of the commercial holiday for romance being used for such a gesture.
Perhaps many of those people are Hoosiers who think their state’s officials are
more in line with sense – although personally I can’t help but view them as
being a couple of decades behind the times on this issue.
FOR
IT SEEMS that the Indiana General Assembly has a state Constitution amendment
pending – one that would set it in parchment that gay marriage is something
that goes against the very being of being an Indiana resident (perhaps that is
why Abe Lincoln left the state when he became an adult and moved to a more
sensible place like Illinois).
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| The new political protest battleground? |
The
Times of Northwest Indiana newspaper reported Friday that Republican leadership
in the Indiana Legislature has decided to wait a few months before doing
anything with the proposed amendment that says a, “legal status identical or
substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals (of the
same gender) shall not be valid or recognized.”
They
want to see if the Supreme Court of the United States offers any guidance when
they rule (as expected) on the issue come June.
We
literally could wind up with an issue where the state border becomes a
political battleground marker. Are we literally going to get gay rights
protests occurring at State Line Road in sight of all those Indiana-side stores
that tout their ability to sell cheap cigarettes?
THE
TIMES NEWSPAPER reported that Democratic legislative leaders in Indiana are
saying they expect action on the issue to be delayed for at least one year,
which they say is progress. Past Legislatures would have given a knee-jerk
approval to the idea.
But
learning of the Indiana idea reminded me way too much of 1996 when the
then-Republican controlled Illinois Legislature felt compelled to alter state
law to emphasize that marriages between gay couples (never permitted) were NOT
valid.
That
law, which then-Gov. Jim Edgar signed into law on a particularly busy
legislative day when there was much other activity meant to occupy public
attention, was an embarrassment. I still wonder why officials felt compelled to
act, and I suppose we should be grateful that Illinois officials didn’t see the
need to muck up our state constitution like Indiana is considering.
But
seriously, we in Illinois got this out of our systems a couple of decades ago,
and are now getting with the program on this issue – even though I expect a few
die-hards to fight this fight to the very end.
DOES
THAT MEAN the people living east of State Line Road will finally follow
Illinois’ lead some time about 2030?
That
thought is almost as laughable as the tale of Steven Robbins – who was serving
a 60-year prison sentence at the state prison near Michigan City. Until he made
an appearance Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court on drug-related charges
that were dropped.
Somebody
on our side goofed, and Robbins was allowed to leave the Criminal Courts
building. The Gary native with extensive family in and around Indianapolis gets
to be our state’s newest resident.
Ouch!?!
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