The Wyoming House of Representatives voted down a bill that would have allowed domestic partnerships for same-sex couples on Wednesday.
The bill, which was the first of its kind to reach the Wyoming House in at least 10 years, was voted down by a vote of 35-24, the Associated Press reported.
Some opponents said that it would have brought about negative consequences if it was passed.
“The fact of the matter is that this is something that’s pushed on us to be politically correct,” Rep. Mark Baker said. “The fact of the matter is that there are disastrous consequences to this bill.”
The failure of the bill may come as a disappointment to many who were looking forward to bringing their families together.
“Marriage equality is a form of precaution and a form of control and that’s just not the state we live in,” Shelly Montgomery, a lesbian mother of four said before the bill failed.
While the bill would have only allowed for domestic partnerships for same-sex couples, Montgomery said it still would have been a step in the right direction.
Even though the domestic partnership bill failed, many were hopeful to pass a bill that would have banned discrimination based on sexual orientation. That bill also failed on Thursday.
Before the bill failed, Sen. John Schiffer thought it was a step forward for Wyoming.
The bill subsequently failed by a 13 to 7 vote.
Also this week, Gov. Matt Mead signed legislation that will strip school superintendent Cindy Hill of most of her duties, the Associated Press reported. The bill will now grant the governor the authority to appoint someone as superintendent from a list of three qualified candidates, in spite of Hill’s blatant opposition to the bill. She later announced that she would run for governor in 2014.
The House also advanced a bill that would allow presidential searches for universities and community colleges in Wyoming to be closed to the public just one week after The Wyoming Tribune Eagle, The Casper Star-Tribune and the Associated Press won a lawsuit to be given the names of the presidential candidates for the University of Wyoming,
The legislature also passed a bill that will allow public schools in Wyoming to offer elective courses that study the Bible without preferences for any religion.
