Brody's Notes... Wyoming Anti-Gay Marriage Measure Dies In State Legislature

Wyoming Capitol Building

By Mark Singer (Washington DC) FEB 28 | The proposed amendment to the Wyoming Constitution that banned recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states expired Friday when it missed a procedural deadline set in the state House.

However, another measure that is still pending would change Wyoming law to specify that the state would only recognize a marriage as being between one man and one woman. There has been contentious debate in both Wyoming's House and Senate over whether or not same-sex couples who entered civil unions elsewhere would have access to the state's court system to resolve any issues that arise in their relationships.

The House Majority Leader Representative Tom Lubnau, (R-Gillette) told reporters that he had no desire to spend valuable time and effort in debating a bill that didn't have the votes to pass.  The measure had already passed the state's Senate but requires a two-thirds vote passage in both houses before being sent to the Governor for his signature.

Fellow GOP legislator Amy Edmonds, (R-Cheyenne) said that given the differences in the House and the Senate over the measure, she felt that its future is "tenuous at best." Edmonds serves on the legislative conference committee assigned to hammer out a compromise measure.

Currently Wyoming constitutionally specifies marriage can only exist between a man and a woman, however Wyoming law also says the state will recognize valid marriages performed in other states. The measure calls for state law to be clarified now that same-sex marriages are being performed in other states.

An issue has already arisen in a pending case before the state's Supreme Court whether or not Wyoming courts have any authority over same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. The high court is reviewing a case in which a lower court judge ruled that he didn't have authority to preside over a divorce case involving two women who married each other in Canada.

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported that critics said that both measures attack Gays & Lesbians and contradicts the state's motto: "The Equality State." Linda Burt, director of the Wyoming ACLU, testified in committee hearings against both same-sex marriage bills. She applauded the death of one of the bills in the House.

"Certainly those bills that take a minority group of people and tell them they can't have the same rights that other people have are unconstitutional," Burt said.

Proponents in favor of the measures have stated that they intend to seek passage of an amendment. The spokesperson for Wyoming Watch, Becky Vandeberghe, said the group would "continue to work toward getting marriage protected and giving people the vote."  Vandeberghe said her organization was unequivocal  in its support and intends to work to elect people in the future who will vote to support the issue. "We'll go ahead and bring it back," she said.

Speaking in opposition, Brianna Jones, the communications director for the Wyoming Democratic Party, told the Associated Press that the entire Democratic Party caucus in the Legislature had been against the bill.

"They didn't think it was an appropriate thing to put in the Wyoming Constitution," Jones said. "It also violated several clauses in the Constitution, particularly the equal protection clauses."