NEVADA: State Senator Comes Out As Marriage Ban Repeal Advances

Yesterday the Nevada Senate became the very first state legislative body to overturn a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. The finish line, however, is more than three years away. Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed:

After a little more than an hour of debate in which one senator publicly declared that he was gay for the first time, the Nevada Senate voted 12-9 to repeal the state's 2002 amendment limiting marriage to one man and one woman and replace it with language requiring the recognition of all marriages between two people, "regardless of gender." In addition to out LGBT Sens. David Parks and Pat Spearman, Sen. Kelvin Atkinson declared on the floor during the debate, "I am a black, gay male."

The repeal bill now goes to the state Assembly. If it passes there, both chambers must again approve the repeal during the 2015 session before the issue can be placed before the voters in 2016.