Bauer’s amendment affirming marriage equality blocked in House

Today, Feb. 10, State Rep. Maureen Bauer (D-South Bend) offered an amendment on the House floor to Senate Bill 76, that would have affirmed that no governmental body may deny, restrict or interfere with the right to marry based on race, color, ethnicity or national origin. The amendment was blocked on the House floor.

The amendment followed recent committee testimony entered into the legislative record in which a representative of the Mass Deportation Coalition argued that immigration changes the nation’s demographics and culture and described the “mixing of populations” as harmful, questioning the underlying intent of SB 76.

Bauer released the following statement:

“Today I offered an amendment to make clear that Indiana will not return to eras defined by exclusion and discrimination. Hearing testimony that framed immigration and the ‘mixing of populations’ as something harmful was appalling, and it is deeply concerning that rhetoric rooted in fear and division continues to surface in 2026.

“When language questions who belongs based on race or background, lawmakers have a responsibility to respond. The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal protection under the law. Marriage rights are not conditional or cultural. They are constitutional. By codifying this amendment into Indiana code, we would have ensured that no government body in Indiana could deny that right based on race, ethnicity or national origin.

“Moments like this require clarity. Silence risks allowing harmful ideas to go unchallenged. Indiana should stand firmly for equal protection, dignity and the principle that discrimination has no place in our laws or in this chamber. Hate will not get the last word.”