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2005

9 entries from 2005.

May(1)

Texas Legislature gave final passage to HJR 6, referring same-sex marriage and civil union constitutional ban to voters

On May 21, 2005, the Texas Senate passed House Joint Resolution 6 on a vote of 21 to 8, completing bicameral passage of the measure. The Texas House had passed the amended resolution 101 to 29 on April 25, 2005. HJR 6 proposed a state constitutional amendment declaring that marriage in Texas consists only of the union of one man and one woman and prohibiting the state or any political subdivision from creating or recognizing any legal status identical or similar to marriage for same-sex couples. The resolution was placed on the November 8, 2005 ballot as Proposition 2, where voters approved it by more than 76 percent.

April(1)

South Carolina Legislature completed passage of HJR3133, a constitutional same-sex marriage ban, referring it to voters

The South Carolina House passed H.3133 (A45, R51) 96-3 on March 1, 2005, proposing a constitutional amendment limiting lawful domestic unions to one man and one woman; the Senate amended and passed it 2005-04-14, and the House concurred in the Senate amendment and enrolled the bill on 2005-04-26, completing the General Assembly's referral of the amendment to voters. The measure was ratified 2005-04-28 without need for the governor's signature, and voters approved the resulting Amendment 1 on November 7, 2006.

March(3)

Indiana Senate and House passed SJR 7, first-passage constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage recognition

The Indiana Senate voted 42-8 on February 21, 2005 to pass Senate Joint Resolution 7, proposing a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman and barring any law from being construed to confer marital status or its legal incidents on unmarried couples. The Indiana House of Representatives passed the identical text without amendment 76-23 on March 22, 2005 and returned it to the Senate, completing first passage by the 114th General Assembly.

Tennessee Legislature gave final passage to SJR0031, proposing constitutional ban on same-sex marriage

On March 17, 2005, the Tennessee House of Representatives voted 88-7-1 to concur with the Senate's prior passage of Senate Joint Resolution 31 (SJR0031), completing the second of two legislative sessions required under Tennessee's amendment process to send a proposed constitutional marriage ban to voters. The resolution defined marriage as "a contract between one man and one woman." Placed on the November 2006 ballot as Amendment 1, it was approved by approximately 81 percent of voters.

Alabama Legislature passed SB109, referring same-sex marriage constitutional ban to voters

On March 10, 2005, the Alabama Senate voted 30-0 to concur in House amendments to SB109, completing legislative passage of the "Sanctity of Marriage Amendment" two days after the House passed the amended bill 85-7 on March 8, 2005. The joint resolution-style act, sponsored by Sen. Hinton Mitchem, proposed a state constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage licenses and denying recognition to any same-sex marriage, civil union, or common-law marriage formed under any jurisdiction's law, and referred the measure directly to the next statewide ballot.

February(4)

Virginia General Assembly gave first passage to HJ586, a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and equivalent legal recognition

On February 26, 2005, both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly adopted the conference committee report on HJ586, a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment to restrict marriage to one man and one woman and bar recognition of any comparable legal status. The House agreed to the conference report 79-17 and the Senate agreed 30-10, completing the first of two required legislative passages under Virginia's amendment process. The resolution was enacted as Chapter 946 of the 2005 Acts of Assembly, setting the stage for a second passage in the next session and a statewide referendum.

Virginia General Assembly completed first passage of SJ337, constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage recognition

On February 26, 2005, the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates both agreed to the conference report on SJ337, a proposed state constitutional amendment providing that only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage recognized by Virginia and barring the Commonwealth from recognizing any other union assigned the rights or effects of marriage. The vote completed the first of two required successive-session passages under Virginia's constitutional-amendment procedure; SJ337 was sponsored by Sen. Stephen D. Newman and was enacted as Chapter 949 of the 2005 Acts of Assembly.

South Dakota Legislature passed HJR1001, referring constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage to voters

On February 14, 2005, the South Dakota Senate voted 20-15 to give final passage to House Joint Resolution 1001, completing the legislature's bicameral approval after the House passed it 53-16 on January 24, 2005. HJR1001, sponsored by Rep. Elizabeth Kraus and Sen. John Koskan, proposed a new amendment to Article XXI of the South Dakota Constitution restricting legal marriage to a man and a woman and referred it to voters at the next general election. South Dakota voters approved the resulting measure, Amendment C, on November 7, 2006.

Kansas Legislature referred SCR1601, a constitutional same-sex marriage ban, to voters

The Kansas Senate adopted 2005 Senate Concurrent Resolution 1601 28-11 on January 13, 2005, and the House of Representatives concurred 86-37 on February 2, 2005, completing the two-thirds supermajority required in both chambers to place a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage before voters. The amendment declared marriage a civil contract between one man and one woman, voided all other marriages, and barred state recognition of any other relationship as entitled to the rights or incidents of marriage; voters ratified it by roughly a 2-to-1 margin at the April 5, 2005 election.