Opponents of a proposed Indiana constitutional amendment banning gay marriage say they scored a "huge victory" when the state Senate advanced the measure without language barring civil unions.The Senate decision Thursday effectively ends chances that the amendment will be put to voters before 2016. Indiana law requires proposed constitutional amendments to pass consecutive sessions of the Legislature in the same form twice before going to voters.The civil unions language was included in the measure when it first passed in 2011. It could have gone to voters in November, but House lawmakers stripped the language last month amid concerns that it went too far.Freedom Indiana campaign manager Megan Robertson says the Senate's decision to keep what she calls a "deeply flawed" sentence out of the measure is a "win for freedom" in Indiana.Final Senate action on the proposal is expected Monday.
