NV Bill To Repeal Marriage Ban Launched

Today a resolution was introduced in the Nevada Senate that would repeal the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. But the process will take years, must be put to a public vote, and then even if the repeal is ultimately successful, a second effort for legalization will have to be launched.

The resolution needs to pass by majority vote in the Legislature this year and again in 2015 before it would be placed on the 2016 ballot. If the majority of voters in Nevada decide to repeal the marriage definition, then the Legislature could act in 2017 to legalize same-sex marriage in statute. Vanessa Spinaloza, lobbyist for the ACLU, worked with Segerblom on the resolution and said she’s confident that a majority of legislators support the repeal. A measure that would simultaneously repeal the ban on same-sex marriages and replace it with language allowing same-sex marriages draws less support, she said. “There’s a little fear that if we did that, we wouldn’t get the whole thing,” she said.

(Tipped by JMG reader David)