Appeals court same-sex marriage ruling should end issue…but it won’t

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath from Michigan City today issued the following statement in the wake of the U.S. Court of Appeals decision to uphold a district court ruling that said Indiana’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional:

“The rulings are coming at a steady pace these days, and they all say the same thing: it is time to end this intolerance toward who should marry whom in Indiana.

“We have already wasted too much time on this subject, when we should be spending time lifting our middle class and helping our schools, among many, many other things.

“But I harbor no illusions that such will be the case. There is too much of a cottage industry that thrives on keeping this debate alive, and I suspect the next step will be to place this issue before the U.S. Supreme Court once and for all.

“Fine. Let that happen. But this does not have to be an issue that we need to have before the Indiana General Assembly next year…or in any other year after that.

“The days of playing to fear and intolerance on this issue are coming to an end in Indiana. It’s time for all of us to accept that reality.”