A North Dakota Senate committee is sending a resolution asking the US Supreme Court to reverse its decision on same sex marriage to the Senate floor without committee recommendation.
The Judiciary Committee took testimony on HCR 3013, which has already passed the House.
The resolution says marriage should be defined as one man, one woman. The Supreme Court issued its ruling in 2015 that protected same sex marriage.
The resolution is being promoted by a Massachusetts-based group called MassResistance. That’s group’s field director, Arthur Schaper, testified remotely.
"It is unjust to fundamentally undermine a necessary institution for the rearing of children, the cohesion of society and the well-being of public health," Schaper told the Committee. "It is unjust to persecute people, whether of faith or common sense, who don't want to recognize the lie of same-sex marriages. It is unjust to ignore and flout the laws of nature, which clearly indicate it takes a male and female to procreate. And no individual is born with self-harming tendencies such as homosexuality and transgenderism."
Bismarck Resident Bradley King spoke against it. He told the Committee he has a daughter in a same-sex marriage, and was proud to walk her down the aisle at her wedding.
"If you vote in favor of it, you are telling our young people, 'Don't come here,'" King said. "If you are gay, you are not safe here. Your beliefs, and that your religious beliefs, will not be respected here. It will make the national news, it will go viral, and it will make all of us look ugly."
The committee vote to make no recommendation was 6 to one. Sen. Ryan Braunberger (D-Fargo) said he voted against that motion, because he wants people to know he opposes the resolution.
