LINCOLN- Senators on the Judiciary Committee took an initial step Thursday toward removing Nebraska’s unenforceable ban on same-sex marriage. On a 5-2 vote, the committee advanced a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow voters to decide whether to remove the ban, which Nebraskans enshrined in the state Constitution in 2000 by a 70% to 30% vote.

In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court rendered the ban unenforceable, ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that such prohibitions violated the due process and equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution. State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, who introduced Legislative Resolution 20CA earlier this year, has said that opinions have changed and that the measure would allow Nebraskans to show that.

Voting to advance LR 20CA from committee, besides Pansing Brooks, were State Sens. Steve Lathrop and Terrell McKinney of Omaha, Adam Morfeld of Lincoln, and Wendy DeBoer of Bennington. Voting against advancement were Sens. Suzanne Geist of Lincoln and Tom Brandt of Plymouth. Sen. Julie Slama of Peru was absent when the vote was taken.

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