Wyoming USA Gay Marriage Ban
When the Wyoming Legislature convenes Tuesday for its 2011 session, it will be a noticeably more conservative body. It looks likely the state will become even more discriminatory towards gay people and remove great strides made towards equality.
Bigotry is alive and well in Wyoming and looks set to get worse. The Republicans crushed The Democrats in the midterms and and the social conservative lawmakers are going to force passed a variety of legislation this year including banning gay marriage and banning equality.
Legislators will take up this year is gay marriage: specifically, whether Wyoming should continue to be the only state in the nation that bans gay marriage, but recognizes gay marriages performed in other states.
News
In 2009, House members killed a proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as only being between a man and a woman.
Rep. Owen Petersen, R-Mountain View, and state Sen. Curt Meier, R-LaGrange, will each sponsor legislation they say will close the "inconsistencies" in Wyoming's marriage law. Petersen's bill, House Bill 74, would change state law, while Meier plans to re-submit the proposed constitutional amendment.
At first blush, it appears there will be more support this year for the bills than in 2009. Twelve House members who voted against the proposed constitutional amendment two years ago have either retired or have been voted out of office. In many cases, they're been replaced by freshmen legislators who say they'll support a gay marriage ban.
Since the 2009 constitutional amendment failed by only 10 votes in the House, Petersen said there's "a strong chance" that his and Meier's bills will pass this time around.
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