lgbtq

Nevada Becomes First State to Recognize Gay Marriage in State Constitution

A question on the Nevada ballot asked voters whether they support an amendment recognizing marriage "as between couples regardless of gender"

In this photo taken March 22, 2015, the rings of Thomas Kostura and Ijpe DeKoe sit on a table in their Memphis, Tennessee, apartment.
AP Photo/Karen Pulfer Focht

Nevada voters overturned an 18-year-old ban on same-sex marriage, making the state the first to enshrine gay couples’ right to marry in its constitution, NBC News reports.

Question 2 on Nevada ballots asked voters whether they support an amendment recognizing marriage “as between couples regardless of gender.” The “Marriage Regardless of Gender Amendment” also asked if religious organizations and clergy retained the right “to refuse to solemnize a marriage.”

The results were 62 percent in favor and 38 percent against, according to the Nevada secretary of state, with more than three-fourths of the votes counted.

Equality Nevada President Chris Davin told NBC News said members of the LGBTQ community wanted something concrete to protect same-sex marriage in case "the federal level ever revokes it — which is what a lot of folks are worried about with the new Supreme Court.”

Read the full story on NBCNews.com

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