NORTH DAKOTA: Republican Majority Senate Rejects Bill To Formalize Same-Sex Marriage Recognition

The Associated Press reports:

North Dakota’s Republican-led Senate rejected a measure Tuesday that would have changed state law to reflect the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that same-sex couples have the right to marry. The bill failed 15-31. It would have changed dozens of references, such as “husband and wife,” to gender-neutral terms. North Dakota law lists “one man, one woman” or “husband and wife” for everything from marriages and divorces to fishing licenses. The measure got a hearing last week in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which voted 4-2 to recommend against passage. North Dakota had state laws defining marriage as between a man and a woman, and 73 percent of North Dakota voters approved a state constitutional amendment in 2004 limiting marriage rights to man-woman couples.

RELATED: Upon the Obergefell ruling, North Dakota lawmaker Dwight Kiefert posted this on Facebook: “Yea, gay marriage is legal in all 50 states. Great victory for the METALLY ILL!!!!!”