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Thursday, May 16th, 2013
A bill that takes the first step toward repeal of Nevada’s ban on gay marriage took another step today. RGJ.com reports:
SRJ13 was approved Thursday by the Assembly Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections. Next up is a full vote by the lower house, where passage is expected. It was previously approved by the Senate. The measure repeals language in the Nevada Constitution that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. The Protection of Marriage Act was ratified by voters in 2002.
If all goes well, Nevada could recognize marriage equality by 2015.
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Posted in Marriage Equality/Gay Marriage, Nevada | No Responses »
Tags: assembly, committee, Gay Marriage, marriage equality, nevada, same sex marriage, vote
Saturday, May 11th, 2013
Last month the Nevada State Senate passed a bill that would start the process to repeal the state’s ban on gay marriage. This week, the Assembly took up the bill. Equality on Trial reports:
In the midst of all these exciting developments, while the state of Nevada may not currently be making national news on the marriage equality front, lawmakers and LGBT advocates there are busy setting the groundwork for a campaign to win marriage rights in the state for same-sex couples. Last night, the Nevada Assembly Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections took up Senate Joint Resolution 13, a proposed bill that would repeal Nevada’s constitutional ban on marriage equality and replace it with language supporting equal marriage rights.
During yesterday’s committee meeting, according to the Las Vegas Sun, Committee chairman James Ohrenschall imposed a strict two-minute time limit on all testimony. Opponents of marriage equality–who had said they were given insufficient time to express their views when the Senate took up the bill–were allowed to testify before supporters. One man said that marriage equality would lead to an increase in the rate of diseases; another said than it would indicate the state was “devolving.”
The legislature only has three more weeks left in its bi-annual schedule. If the bill passes this year, it must be passed again in 2015, and then go before Nevada voters in 2016.
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Tags: assembly, ban, bill, committee, Gay Marriage, hearing, marriage equality, nevada, repeal, same sex marriage
Monday, May 6th, 2013
The Cosmopolitan Hotel hosted a “pop-up” chapel over the weekend, and 36 same sex couples married (though the weddings have no force of law in Nevada). The Rebel Yell reports:
The Pop-Up Wedding Chapel inside the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas welcomed a three-hour event to support The Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada where 36 LGBTQ and straight ally couples had commitment, vow renewal and faux ceremonies every five minutes. It was all a demonstration to show the community support for southern Nevada.
But the weddings weren’t the only show of support the hotel made for marriage equality and the LGBT community:
Prior to the ceremonies, The Cosmopolitan’s Vice President of People, Daniel Espino, showed their support for the community by announcing a generous donation of $50,000 to help fund The Center. The Cosmopolitan opened in 2010 with a wellknown history of supporting The Center DFand its push for change.
Meanwhile, the effort to repeal the ban on gay marriage continues in the Nevada legislature, an effort that will take several years.
Find more articles and gay wedding resources in Nevada.
Posted in Marriage Equality/Gay Marriage, Nevada, Weddings | No Responses »
Tags: cosmopolitan hotel, Gay Marriage, las vegas, marriage equality, nevada, pop up chapel, same sex marriage, weddings
Wednesday, May 1st, 2013
Get ready for a big wedding in Vegas thursday. No, it’s not a Kardashian or a Spears (again). This time it’s a bunch of gay and lesbian couples. SDGLN reports:
To increase momentum for the state and national movement toward marriage equality, The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas are holding an event consisting of 36 LGBTQ and straight ally couples having a ceremony every five minutes for three hours at the resort’s Pop-Up Wedding Chapel on Thursday, May 2. The broad range of couples, each holding a commitment ceremony, vow renewal ceremony or faux-ceremony, will be reading vows in support of marriage equality.
The wedding comes as the Nevada legislature considers repealing the ban on gay weddings.
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Tags: cosmopolitan hotel, Gay Marriage, gay weddings, las vegas, lesbian weddings, marriage equality, nevada, pop up chapel, same sex marriage
Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013
The move to repeal Nevada’s ban on same-sex marriages move forward yesterday, as the Senate voted 12 to 9 to approve the measure. During the debate, Sen. Kelvin Atkinson came out. Towleroad reports:
One Republican joined with Democrats to vote in favor of the resolution and lawmakers debated for more than an hour. The debate included this, the Las Vegas Sun reports: In a particularly emotional moment, Sen. Kelvin Atkinson, D-North Las Vegas, publicly declared for the first time that he is gay. “I’m black. I’m gay,” Atkinson said in a trembling voice after describing his father’s interracial re-marriage that would have been banned earlier in American history. “I know this is the first time many of you have heard me say that I am a black, gay male.”
As we mentioned before, even if the bill get support in both houses, it will need to be re-approved in 2015, and then will go before the voters in 2016.
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Posted in Democrats, Marriage Equality/Gay Marriage, Nevada, Politicians | 3 Responses »
Tags: coming out, gay, Gay Marriage, marriage equality, nevada, same sex marriage, Sen. Kelvin Atkinson, senate, vote
Saturday, April 20th, 2013
The bill to legalize gay marriage in Nevada was amended yesterday – LGBTQ Nation has the details:
A proposal seeking to clear the way for same-sex marriage in Nevada was amended Friday by the state Senate in a move designed to make it more acceptable to some lawmakers who struggled with their religious convictions. The amendment offered by Sen. Pat Spearman, a lesbian minister, states: “Religious organizations and 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 clergy for such a refusal.” Spearman (D-North Las Vegas), said she hoped the amendment would ease concerns and ensure colleagues that religious protections “would not be denied.”
The amendment would not allow religious business owners to discriminate against same sex couples – it would only allow churches to refuse to allow them. The bill, if approved, would need to be approved again in two years, and then would go to the voters in 2016.
In related news, the National Center for Lesbian Rights is urging Nevada voters to call their lawmakers to support the bill. Melanie Nathan reports:
This is an incredible chance to move marriage forward in the Silver State. Thousands of families are counting on us to get this bill passed–and we have little time to build the support we need to pass SJR13 on the Senate floor. We don’t have time to waste: Contact your legislators today and urge them to stand on the right side of history by voting “yes” on SJR13.
Here’s the link to find and contact your Nevada legislator.
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Tags: amendment, bill, Gay Marriage, legislature, marriage equality, nevada, religious protections, same sex marriage
Friday, April 12th, 2013
A Nevada Senate panel passed a bill that would repeal the anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment. The Reno Gazette-Journal reports:
On a party-line, 3-2 vote, the Senate Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections amended and passed Senate Joint Resolution 13. It not only repeals the state’s heterosexual definition of marriage, but says Nevada recognizes all marriages regardless of gender. Because it is a constitutional amendment, the measure must be approved by the Legislature this year and in 2015 before it would go to voters in 2016 for ratification. Supporters said they’ll keep up their campaign for passage.
There was a significant amendment to the bill:
The original proposal sought only to repeal language in the state constitution that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. But a late amendment adopted by the committee Thursday adds that the state “shall recognize marriages and issue marriage licenses, regardless of gender.”
Kudos to Nevada for taking this up. We’ll see if they can sustain the momentum, but I’m cautiously hopeful.
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Tags: constitutional amendment, Gay Marriage, marriage equality, nevada, panel, repeal, same sex marriage, senate
Wednesday, April 10th, 2013
The Nevada Senate is moving ahead with plans to repeal the state’s constitutional ban on gsy marriage. The Las Vegas Sun reports:
Despite Gov. Brian Sandoval’s belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman, the Senate Judiciary Committee is poised Thursday to approve a constitutional amendment on gay marriage. Committee Chairman Sen. Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, says there are enough votes for Senate Joint Resolution 13 to clear both the committee and the full Senate. Some Republicans are supporting the measure, he said.
Even if the House, Senate, and Governor approve the repeal, they’d have to do it again in 2015, and then voters would have to approve it in 2016, so don’t make your Vegas wedding plans yet.
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Posted in Marriage Equality/Gay Marriage, Nevada | 1 Response »
Tags: constitutional ban, Gay Marriage, marriage equality, nevada, repeal, same sex marriage, senate
Wednesday, March 27th, 2013
The US Supreme Court wasn’t the only governmental body holding a hearing on marriage equality today. LGBTQ Nation reports:
SJR13 was introduced last week by Democratic Sen. Tick Segerblom of Las Vegas, and Tuesday’s hearing in the Senate Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections came on the same day the U.S. Supreme Court was hearing arguments on California’s ban on same sex marriage. Supporters said that allowing same sex marriages in Nevada — the marriage capital of the world — would bring in more money for the state. “My personal belief is that marriage is between a man and a woman. But as governor, I believe the people of Nevada should have the freedom to decide should this issue come before them for a vote,” Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval said a statement Tuesday.
The bill would have to pass this year, again in 2015, and then go before the voters in 2016.
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Tags: committee, Gay Marriage, hearing, marriage equality, nevada, same sex marriage, state senate
Tuesday, March 19th, 2013
It’s spreading. In Nevada, a state senator has just introduced a resolution to repeal that state’s ban on gay marriage, LGBTQ Nation reports:
SJR13 was introduced Monday by Democratic Sen. Tick Segerblom of Las Vegas. Same-sex marriage in Nevada was banned in 2002 when voters passed Question 2, the “Protection of Marriage Act,” with 66.9 percent of voters in favor. Now, more than ten years later, polls show sentiment in Nevada for same sex marriage has changed, with many voters supporting it. A February 2013 poll by the Retail Association of Nevada poll found that 54 percent of voters support marriage equality for gay couples.
It’s still a long road – they’d have to approve it this year, again in 2015, and then put it before the voters in 2016.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Response »
Tags: ban, Gay Marriage, marriage equality, nevada, repeal, resolution, same sex marriage, Senator, state senate, Tick Segerblom
