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Same-Sex Marriage Legal in Indiana

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear appeals from five states trying to ban same-sex marriage.

Hundreds of same-sex couples across the state rushed to their local county clerk’s office to say their vows in June, when a federal judge ruled Indiana’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional. The fate of their marriages was put on hold soon after, when the Circuit Court put a stay on the decision as the state appealed the case.

This week, the scene was quite different. The U.S. Supreme Court decided not to hear appeals from five states, including Indiana, effectively legalizing same-sex marriage in those states. But this time, county clerks’ offices remained largely quiet.

LGBT rights activists say there isn’t a sense of urgency this time around because the Supreme Court’s decision provides some sense of finality to the issue.

But not everybody feels this way. Indianapolis resident Doug Mellinger says he married his partner Chris in Marion County on Monday after the stay was lifted because he didn’t trust the system. Chris was out of town in June when same-sex couples were able to wed, and Mellinger says they didn’t want to miss the opportunity again.

“I never believed I would see this day happen in Indiana,” Mellinger says.  “I’m glad I proved myself wrong. I’m still in shock that it has happened and still quite emotional about it.”

Beth Cate, an attorney who teaches in the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA), says same-sex marriage will remain legal in Indiana unless the Supreme Court makes a decision on the issue. Cate says that decision may become more likely as more circuit courts strike down bans on same-sex marriages.

“It might be easier for the court then to say yes, the tide has shifted, the underlying norms have shifted, we feel more comfortable making a constitutional ruling,” Cate says.

Brian Powell, professor and chair of Indiana University’s Department of Sociology, focuses his research on family sociology with a specific interest in “atypical” family forms. Powell says the shift in public opinion toward acceptance of same-sex marriages does not surprise him, but he did not expect it to occur so quickly.

The most recent Gallup poll indicates that a little more than 50 percent of Americans support same-sex marriage. However, there are geographic and generational divides in the statistics.

“Even if there was no one changing his or her mind about same-sex marriage, we will be moving toward greater acceptance of same sex marriage,” Powell says. “But people are changing their minds as well.”

Powell says each year a new cohort of 18-year-old voters support marriage equality, which will continue to increase public opinion on the issue in the years to come.

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