Voters in Nevada on Tuesday upheld the
right of gay and lesbian couples to marry.
With 75 percent of precincts reporting,
the Associated Press called Question 2 as passing with 61.2 percent
of the vote. Nearly 39 percent of voters voted against passage.
Voters in 2000 overwhelmingly (69.6%)
approved Question 2, which declared: “Only a marriage between a
male and female person shall be recognized and given effect in this
state.”
In the 2015 case Obergefell, the
Supreme Court struck down state laws and constitutional amendments
that prohibit same-sex marriage, thereby making Nevada's
constitutional amendment invalid.
Tuesday's Question 2 removed the
state's inactive same-sex marriage ban from its constitution.
Briana Escamilla, director of the
Nevada chapter of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), told US News
and World Report that the measure's passage shows Nevadans
support LGBT rights.
“This overwhelming majority should be
a reminder that LGBTQ equality is not just the right thing to do, it
is exactly what Nevadans want,” Escamilla
said.
Nevada is the first state in the nation
to overturn such a ban.
While Question 2 states that Nevada
“will issue marriage licenses to couples regardless of gender”
and that “all legally valid marriages must be treated equally under
the law,” it also protects the right of religious organizations and
clergy to “refuse to solemnize a marriage.”