CHEYENNE, Wyoming, January 18, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A pro-family measure to fix the loopholes in Wyoming’s marriage laws defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman, passed its first test in a state House committee Monday.
Although Wyoming does not allow same-sex “marriage” in its marriage statutes, the laws say that the state will extend reciprocity to the marriages of other states. As the law stands, that means Wyoming would also have to recognize the legality of same-sex “marriages” contracted outside the state.
The House Education Committee approved HB 74 in a 7-2 vote. The bill would change Wyoming law so that only marriages between a man and a woman contracted outside the state would be recognized.
House Majority Leader Tom Lubnau (R-Gillette) told the Casper-Star Tribune that the people in Wyoming did not want a schizophrenic policy on same-sex “marriage” and that the bill would finally address that concern.
Lubnau said his constituents have been “very clear that they desire the policy of the state of Wyoming to be marriage is between a man and a woman.”
“That’s how they want their policy; that’s how they want their society to look.”
HB 74 will need to pass three successive votes in the House before the measure can head to the state Senate for approval.
Similar bills were proposed in 2007 and 2009. However, the Tribune reports that pro-family advocates now believe they may have the votes not only to pass the bill, but also bring up a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as the union of a man and a woman.