Nevada senators move gay marriage update closer to ballot

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 Monday 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 Monday.

The earliest Nevada voters could consider it would be in 2020.

A 2015 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay 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.

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Copyright Associated Press. The Gayly - 5/1/2017 @ 2:22 p.m. CST