Wyoming House rejects equal marriage bill
The Wyoming House of Representatives has voted down a bill which would have allowed same-sex marriage in the state.
On Thursday, the marriage definition bill, which attempted to change the the definition of marriage from between ‘a male and a female ‘ to between ‘two natural persons’ was voted down.
41 representatives voted against the bill, and 17 voted in favour.
The bill’s sponsor was openly gay Democrat Cathy Connolly, the representative for Laramie.
Laramie is where gay teen Matthew Shephard was murdered in an anti-gay attack in 1998.
Connolly said: “I don’t want to leave Wyoming to get married.
“Wyoming is my chosen home. I’ve lived here for over two decades. It’s where I’ve spent my entire professional career. It’s where I’ve raised my son. It’s the state I love and serve.”
“If I want to get married to the woman that I love, I want to do it here.”
On the same day, a bill which would have banned the state from recognising same-sex marriages from elsewhere was also voted down, by 31 votes to 29.
Several same-sex marriage bills and civil union bills have previously been rejected in Wyoming.
Last year, a bill to grant gay couples domestic partnership rights in the state was voted down.
