Wyoming Capitol Photo By David G. Houser Corbis Images
By Brody Levesque (Bethesda, Maryland) DEC 31 | Republican legislators in Wyoming are planning to reintroduce a defence of marriage law that would bar the state from recognising same-sex marriages from other states. The current Wyoming law defines marriage as a legal union between a man and woman, but Wyoming also recognizes marriages performed in other states.State Representative Owen Petersen, (R-Mountain View) says that the loophole raises questions about what happens when Gay & Lesbian couples from other states move into the state.
Michelle Dynes, staff writer for the Cheyenne based Wyoming News.com, says the proposal would allow Wyoming's voters to determine whether the state Constitution should define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
Michelle Dynes, staff writer for the Cheyenne based Wyoming News.com, says the proposal would allow Wyoming's voters to determine whether the state Constitution should define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
Supporters say the time is right for the proposal to reappear. A 40-day general session means that there is more time for debate. A conservative majority on both sides of the Capitol also could give the resolution the additional support to pass the motion on to voters.
"It's about the right of Wyoming voters to vote," said Senator Curt Meier, (R-LaGrange), who plans on co-sponsoring the updated resolution. "We're setting a community standard for Wyoming."Dynes also noted:
Representative Ken Esquibel, (D-Cheyenne), said he believes it's a proposal that does more to make social conservatives feel good than to protect traditional marriage. And while he personally believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman, he doesn't think the argument of tradition should be used to tell others how to live.
"I don't see how we can call ourselves the Equality State when we are singling out a group of people," he saidSimilar legislation failed in 2009.
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1 comments:
It is quite bad enough to pass laws that discriminate against your own citizens, but to pass one that negates legal rights in other jurisdictions is simply abhorrent. What are married couples supposed to do if they want to visit some national landmark like Yellowstone Park? Go anyway, and have their rights stripped the minute they cross the border? Or are federal laws the only ones that apply in National Parks, thereby making Wyoming citizens in the parks different from others elsewhere in the state?
While it may not seem too important to some, the consequences of such legislation on anyone visiting as a tourist are gigantic, especially if there were to be an accident and spousal permissions are required for medical decisions.
If this goes through, and I sure as hell hope it doesn't, there should be mandatory signage placed outside of Wyoming borders warning all travellers what they are getting into. May the tourism die and the economy crumble. Talk about creating a self inflicted boycott.
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