The resolution to amend the state’s constitution passed 23-9 after the majority Republican caucus used a parliamentary maneuver to end the filibuster, which began at 4:00 p.m. CST on Monday, said Lauren Hieger, communications director for the Missouri Senate Majority Caucus.
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The measure would prohibit government penalties against those who cite religious beliefs while declining to provide wedding-related services to same-sex couples.
The measure would also shield vendors who refuse to provide services, and individuals who decline “to personally be a participant in a wedding or marriage”. Jill Schupp, who offered rainbow-sprinkled cupcakes to senators. Should it pass in the Senate and the House, the bill will go to state voters later this year. It appeared to be sailing through the Senate this week when the chamber’s small number of Democrats decided late Monday to mount a filibuster.
“These risky bills and potential constitutional amendments only succeed in showing people Missouri is not a welcoming state”, the organizations said in a letter to lawmakers last month.
His comments come after the Republican-led Senate ended a 37-hour filibuster by Democrats and gave initial approval to the measure.
“This is a major scarring of equality in Missouri”, said Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a leader of the filibuster.
The Georgia Senate has approved a measure barring government penalties against individuals or organizations that decline to provide services to couples based on a religious belief about marriage.
“We felt the debate was starting to meander”, Richard said.
The measure needs a second vote of approval in the Senate in order to move to the Missouri house. Similar to so-called “First Amendment Defense Act” legislation introduced in other states, this outrageous and extreme resolution would lead to a ballot measure that proposes to allow individuals, organizations, and businesses to use religion as a valid excuse to discriminate against LGBT people by broadly redefining the definition of religious organizations. The discriminatory proposal has received widespread condemnation from fair-minded Missourians and businesses throughout the state, includingGovernor Jay Nixon, the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the St. Louis Regional Chamber, Dow Chemical Company, and Monsanto.
Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders tweeted their support.
“The state can not constitutionally prefer one set of religious beliefs (here, those opposed to marriage for same sex couples) over all other beliefs”, Eunice Rho, advocacy and policy counsel for the ACLU, said in an email to BuzzFeed News. Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, for example, defied the Supreme Court ruling by ordering that probate judges in his state not issue marriage licenses that ran against Alabama marriage protection laws aimed at preventing gay marriages. That bill ultimately passed the state Senate.
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“Religious liberty is important, and we’ve got a lot of people who are talking about it”, Richardson said.
