Gary at Advance Indiana:

The House Rules and Legislative Procedures Committee in a historic vote this evening rejected SJR-7 by a 5-5 vote, with only one Democrat, Rep. Dennis Oxley, voting in support of the amendment to constitutionally ban same-sex marriages and more in Indiana. At the outset of the meeting, Rep. Scott Pelath, chairman of the committee, announced there would be no amendments to SJR-7–just as the proponents of the discriminatory amendment had insisted. That left members with a deeply flawed amendment to consider.

And at Hoosier site Bilerico, where Bil says “Ding Dong: SJR-7 is dead!”

History has been made, folks! SJR-7, the proposed amendment to outlaw same-sex marriage and civil unions, has been defeated in committee. The amendment is dead.

…Dan Parker, Indiana Democratic Party chairman, commented after the hearing, “House Democrats took a stand today against ill-crafted legislation that would have done more harm than good. This wasn’t a vote against traditional marriage; it was a vote for protecting vulnerable Hoosiers and promoting job growth. At a time when Indiana is bleeding thousands of jobs each month, the last thing we need to do is restrict our major employers and send the wrong message to companies and workers that might be looking to move here.”

None of this would have been possible without the courageous stand taken by Indiana companies like Cummins Engine, Wellpoint, Dow AgroSciences, Eli Lilly, and Emmis Communications. These corporations correctly pointed out that SJR-7 would negatively affect their ability to recruit quality employees by painting Indiana as an intolerant state to live and work in.

I know Shakes Sis is celebrating this big win in her state.

HRC’s Joe Solmonese (via email):

“Today we applaud each Indiana legislator who bravely took a stand against excluding certain families from their rights and who refused to write discrimination into their state’s constitution.  We commend Indiana Equality, Indiana Stonewall Democrats, PFLAG and our members and supporters for working to kill this harmful amendment.  We also thank our corporate allies for their support and leadership in ensuring that their employees are treated equally and fairly in Indiana.”