Indiana University Joins Gay Marriage Ban Fight

BLOOMINGTON - Indiana University has joined a bipartisan campaign fighting a proposed state constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriages.

The university announced Monday it was joining Freedom Indiana, a coalition that includes Eli Lilly & Co., Cummins Inc. and the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce.

IU President Michael McRobbie says the amendment would turn some prospective employees away from Indiana and increase the state's challenges remaining economically competitive.

The General Assembly approved the proposed ban in 2011, but the current Legislature would need to approve it again before it would go to voters in a statewide referendum. Indiana law already bars same-sex marriage, but backers of the constitutional ban say it would provide an impediment to potential court decisions that would overturn the state law.