g********d 发帖数: 4174 | 1 Posted on Advocate.com January 21, 2011
Wyo. Advances Anti–Gay Marriage Bill
By Julie Bolcer
The Wyoming house advanced a bill Thursday that would bar the state from
recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions, one of
several equality-related measures to be considered in this legislative
session.
According to the Billings Gazette, “The proposal, which previous
legislatures have killed, passed on its first hearing with 34 votes. The
bill, House Bill 74, must now pass two additional House votes before it
would head to the Senate for consideration.”
State representative Owen Petersen, a Republican from Mountain View,
sponsors the antigay bill. He wants to resolve an apparent conflict in state
law that defines marriage as a contract between a man and a woman, while
also recognizing any marriage validly performed outside the state.
A similar bill was defeated in 2009 and 2007, according to the Gazette, but
12 opponents of the measure in 2009 have retired or been defeated.
Also being considered is a senate bill that proposes a constitutional
amendment to ban same-sex marriage and bills to legalize marriage equality
and civil unions. Wyoming is the home state of former vice president Dick
Cheney, who supports marriage equality when passed by state governments and
has a lesbian daughter. The state also was the home of Matthew Shepard, the
gay college student brutally murdered in 1998 and namesake of federal hate-
crimes legislation. |
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