Despite pleas from the LGBTQ+ community, lawmakers have shelved a bill that would have allowed voters to decide whether to remove from the Louisiana Constitution language that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
In 2004, Louisianans amended the constitution to add that language, effectively banning same-sex marriage. That ban no longer has teeth after a 2015 Supreme Court decision legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
Still, state Rep. Mandie Landry, a Democrat from New Orleans and one of the most progressive voices in the Legislature, proposed House Bill 98 to get rid of the constitution’s definition of marriage, which she argues is now unconstitutional.
On Monday, her bill floundered in the House Committee on Civil Law and Procedure. The 8-5 vote fell mostly along party lines, though Rep. Brian Glorioso, R-Slidell, joined Democrats in voting not to defer the bill.
Lawmakers heard emotional testimony from Louisianans in same-sex marriages who said the legislation would be an important step toward acceptance.
Rustin Loyd, a gay man from the Hammond area, described his relationship with a man before same-sex marriage was legal. When his partner, Ben, broke his back in a car crash, Loyd could not put him on his insurance because the two were not married, Loyd said.
After eight years together, Ben died unexpectedly, Loyd said in an interview following the committee meeting, and Loyd had trouble with everything from closing bank accounts to paying bills.
“I just felt really powerless,” he said. “I had no legal rights. In the eyes of the law, we were just roommates.”
During the committee meeting, others contemplated what would happen if the Supreme Court reversed its decision to legalize same-sex marriage.
“Who is going to protect our marriage?” asked Emily Lambert, who is married to a woman and worried about losing the rights to their children if Louisiana no longer recognized their marriage.
The conservative nonprofit Louisiana Family Forum and the Louisiana Baptist Convention, however, opposed Landry’s bill.
“Marriage as defined by a man and a woman is essential to our social fabric,” said Will Hall, director of the latter group’s public policy office. “It’s been essential to the foundation of this state, and that’s why it’s in the constitution.”
Rep. Josh Carlson, R-Lafayette, also said the proposed constitutional amendment “does provide a trampling on the religious values that have been upheld and are valued by a majority of the state of Louisiana.”
Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Pineville, moved that the civil law panel defer bill. He argued that, with the possibility of a constitutional convention on the horizon, the Legislature should avoid advancing bills that would put constitutional questions on the ballot.
Johnson’s motion passed, meaning the bill could come up again this session, though that possibility appears slim.