This week the Indiana Senate passed a state marriage amendment by a bipartisan margin of 40 to 10! And this after the amendment passed the House by an astonishing 70 to 26 margin!

Several supporters of gay marriage, in what is, sadly, becoming a too-common recurring theme of lack of respect for the democratic process, started screaming from the gallery, “Stop hating, stop dividing, stop pandering.” The Senate had to actually close the gallery and remove all spectators in order to permit the debate to progress. Classy act, that one.

We published a full-page ad in the Columbus (Ind.) Republic going after Cummins, Inc. for its ludicrous claim that defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman would somehow interfere with its ability to compete. A Cummins exec actually threatened to punish the people of Indiana by failing to expand jobs if they passed the marriage amendment--even as the company was announcing plans to expand in nearby Tennessee, which HAS a marriage amendment.

(Thanks to Micah Clark and the American Family Association of Indiana for co-sponsoring the ad.)

The amendment, identical to amendments passed in nearby states, says simply:

“Only a marriage between one (1) man and one (1) woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Indiana. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized.”

Congrats to the people of Indiana! Kudos to all the groups in Indiana who worked so hard for so many years to make this great victory possible. And thank you, my friend, for all that you've done to make this new victory possible. You are the reason NOM is able to win incredible victory after incredible victory.

In Indiana, this is only the first step. After an election, both the House and Senate will have to pass this resolution again--and then the future of marriage in Indiana will go to the people in 2014.

Only one Republican jumped ship, believing the opposition's line: Rep. Ed Clare, a new member. He's the only Republican in about six votes in the last ten years to come out against protecting marriage.

And the Democrats who voted to protect marriage will, no doubt, face attacks from within.

Indianans will have to work to protect and extend this victory in 2012--and not only in Indiana!