Civil Unions Bill Fails in Wyoming

A same-sex civil unions bill narrowly failed in the Wyoming house judiciary committee on Friday.

The 5-4 vote followed votes in the senate last week for a constitutional amendment against marriage equality, and in the house for a bill to prohibit recognition of same-sex marriages and civil unions from out of state. Also on Friday, the house judiciary committee outright rejected a marriage equality bill without a vote.

According to the Casper Star-Tribune, the vote against civil unions followed hours of testimony in the house about the merits of same-sex relationships including remarks from a chiropractor that "went into anatomical detail about the health risks of gay sex."

"But state Reps. Bob Nicholas, R-Cheyenne, and Frank Peasley, R-Douglas, who cast the deciding votes against the bill, opposed the proposal not on ideological grounds, but rather because they worried the wording of the bill -- which almost exactly mirrored the rights and responsibilities Wyoming law lists for marriage -- could lead to legal pitfalls in the future," reports the Tribune.