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Nevada Lawmakers Take Step To Protect Marriage Equality Even If Supreme Court Reverses Decision

The Sagebrush State isn't taking any chances with the freedom to marry.

With the addition of Neil Gorsuch, the Supreme Court has tilted right, putting its 2015 same-sex marriage ruling on shakier ground. Now, one state is taking steps to preserve the freedom to marry, even if the high court reverses its decision and undoes federal marriage equality.

The Nevada Senate approved a measure on Monday that recognizes same-sex marriage in the state, a preemptive move in case the Supreme Court revisits Obergefell v. Hodges With some SCOTUS watchers predicting Justice Kennedy may retire soon, its future is even more uncertain.

Introduced by Assemblyman Nelson Araujo, (D-Las Vegas), Assembly Joint Resolution 2 would repeal a 2002 constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. (That voter-approved measure was nullified by the 2015 Supreme Court ruling.)

AJR 2 passed 19-2 in the Senate, having already been approved in the Assembly 27-14. But the addition of language exempting religious organizations from having to perform same-sex unions (something they’re currently not required to do) means it has to be reviewed by the Assembly again.

But the resolution would still have to be approved by the Legislature again in 2019 and ratified by voters in 2020.

Similar efforts to remove Nevada's marriage ban was attempted by state Democrats in 2013, but died when the GOP took control of the statehouse in 2015.

Calling the ban “a black mark on the state of Nevada,” Sen. Tick Segerblom, (D-Las Vegas) called marriage equality “the last civil rights issue in our country.”

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