Jim Bopp, an anti-LGBT attorney who was forced out as Indiana’s representative to the Republican National Committee in 2012, told the committee that he was perplexed as to why opponents would be against a constitutional ban if same sex marriage was already illegal in Indiana.
“It can only be because [the existing ban is] vulnerable,” he insisted. “They want the option of getting what they actually want, which is to change the definition marriage. And the very vulnerability of a statute as opposed to a constitutional amendment affords them a greater opportunity to get that job done.
“Even more troubling though was an argument made by one who said that the simple debate on the marriage amendment will do the damage,” Bopp added. “Well, what does that tell you? That there are some people that are so intolerant of other people’s views that a simple debate…”
At that, the chairman was forced to call the committee to order as the gallery burst into laughter.
“A simple debate about the question offends them to the extent that they want to leave the state,” Bopp said. “And even more troubling than that, it’s a direct attack upon democracy.”
Bopp worked as a legal adviser to Citizens United leading up to their victory in the Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission also just happens to represent the National Organization for Marriage.