CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) – Religious organizations and individual clergy members would have a constitutional right to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages in Nevada under a proposal state lawmakers are moving toward the 2020 ballot.
State senators voted 19-2 to pass a measure seeking to delete a defunct provision of the state constitution that says Nevada will only recognize marriage between a man and a woman.
Assembly Joint Resolution 2 would state Nevada will recognize all marriages equally, regardless of gender. The religious exemption was added May 1.
The earliest Nevada voters could consider it would be in 2020.
A 2015 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in every state.
Thirty-one states had enacted laws banning same-sex marriage before the ruling.
Ten other states have since considered deleting those laws. Most remain on the books, though invalid.
