For Immediate Release March 18, 2005

For More Information Contact: Diane Brown, 317-274-7711 habrown@iupui.edu

Law Students to Host Panel on Sexual Orientation and Familial Status

INDIANAPOLIS - On Tuesday, March 29 student organizations at the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis will host a panel discussion on contested rights affecting the status of homosexual couples and their families.

The panel, "Sexual Orientation and Familial Status: The Legal, Social, and Political Perspectives," will take place from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the Conour Atrium of the law school, located at 530 West New York Street on the IUPUI campus.

IU School of Law-Indianapolis Professor Mary Harter Mitchell will moderate the panel. Featured speakers include: John Hostettler, United States representative; Ken Faulk, legal director, Indiana Civil Liberties Union; political science Professor Ellen Anderson, IUPUI; Professor Michael Scaperlanda, University Of Oklahoma College of Law; Professor James Willets, Inter-American Center For Human Rights; Brad Grammer, Hope & New Life Ministries; and Jeff Miner, Jesus Metropolitan Community Church.

The debate will specifically address Indiana 's proposed constitutional amendment to ban homosexual marriage, Senate Joint Resolution No. 7; and national legislation such as the Defense Of Marriage Act, which invalidated same-sex marriages from other states.

The speakers will also deliberate the consequences of recent high profile decisions concerning marriage and familial rights for gay couples. The panel will specifically address the January 2005 case, Morrison V. Sadler , in which the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld a statutory ban on homosexual marriage.

The panel will also discuss the implications of King v. S. B., the November 2004 case in which the Indiana Court of Appeals gave legal custody rights to a lesbian mother who conceived a child through artificial insemination during the relationship with her partner.

The program is open to the public. For additional information, please contact Katie Orton (korton@iupui.edu) or Jon Mayes (jlmayes@iupui.edu).

Those wishing to attend should contact Faith Long Knotts by email, falong@iupui.edu, or phone (317) 274-1913 by Friday, March 25, 2005. ###