Republican House Speaker Todd Richardson said lawmakers feel an urgency to act this election year; otherwise, the amendment, which would require voter approval, might have to wait until the 2018 ballot.
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The vote to pass the outrageous proposal attacking LGBT Missourians and their families came after a historic filibuster effort by Senate Democrats attempting to stop the anti-equality majority.
The measure is in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last June that legalized marriage of same-sex couples in all states and effectively overturned a provision in the Missouri Constitution that limited marriage to one man and one woman. That leaves plenty of time for the proposal, if passed by the Senate, to also move through the Republican-controlled House. Senate Democrats stalled a vote on a religious freedom measure during a filibuster that began March 7, 2016, and is ongoing Wednesday.
St. Louis Public Radio says the bill sponsor argues it “would not harm the LGBT community or seek to revoke their right to marry”.
Douglas Laycock, a law professor at the University of Virginia and an expert on religious liberty, said it was “conceivable but unlikely” that the bill would have the more dire effects envisioned by opponents.
Given their minority position in both chambers of Missouri’s General Assembly, Democrats chose to filibuster, debating overnight on Monday and Tuesday to block the initiative.
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”.
But local same sex advocates say they’ve been to businesses that have refused services because they were gay.
“Rewriting our state’s constitution to condone discrimination would be contrary to our values and harmful to our economy”, Nixon said Wednesday in an emailed statement. Onder said the Missouri measure is more narrowly crafted than some that have faced a backlash – for example, a proposal in IN that was criticized by businesses. Among the largest of those is the St. Louis-based agricultural firm Monsanto, which called on other businesses to join it “in speaking out against discrimination here in our home state”.
He told his colleagues in the Senate that the bill “protects churches, pastors, religious organizations in a very well-defined class of individuals from being penalized, targeted, persecuted on the basis of their religious beliefs”.
The filibuster is marking the longest continuous debate in recent Missouri history.
On Thursday, action by Democrats continued to delay work in the Senate.
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( KTRS ) The Missouri House has endorsed a bill creating a grant program to attract more conventions to the state. Our religious freedom is not under threat, and Missouri can not afford to become the next IN, which lost tens of millions of dollars IN convention and tourism revenue after passing a similar bill IN 2015. “We should focus on keeping Missouri competitive, not keep people away”.
