The Nevada Senate has advanced a resolution that would place on the 2020 ballot the question of whether the state Constitution should be amended to remove language recognizing marriage as being solely between a man and a woman, and replace it with text that recognizes marriage equality.
Assembly Joint Resolution 2 passed 19-2 on Monday after language was added prohibiting the punishment of pastors who decline to officiate ceremonies that are violative of their faith.
“The State of Nevada and its political subdivisions shall recognize marriages and issue marriage licenses to couples regardless of gender,” the proposed amendment reads. “Religious organizations and members of the clergy have the right to refuse to solemnize a marriage, and no person has the right to make any claim against a religious organization or member of the clergy for such a refusal.”
Only Republican Senators. Joe Hardy of Boulder City and Don Gustavson of Sparks voted against the resolution.
“The fact that we would legitimize discrimination against people based upon their gender and gender orientation, this will go a long way to rectifying that like the equivalent of women having the right to vote or the Equal Rights Amendment,” Senator Tick Segerblom, Democrat from Las Vegas.
Assemblyman Ira Hansen, the Republican from Sparks, spoke up for polygamists, saying that amendment is exclusionary of other types of marital arrangements. He called it a “discrimination we have right now in our laws.”
