Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, a
Republican, on Friday signed a bill that will codify the right of gay
and lesbian couples to marry in Nevada law.
Sponsored by Democratic Assemblyman
Nelson Araujo, AB 229 reflects the Supreme Court's groundbreaking
2015 finding in Obergefell v. Hodges that gay couples have a
constitutional right to marry.
The bill revises Nevada state laws to
define marriage as the union of two people, regardless of gender, and
gives same-sex couples the same parental rights as heterosexual
couples.
It was one of 51 bills the governor
signed into law with little fanfare on Friday.
Earlier this month, the Nevada Senate
approved a resolution that begins the process of repealing the
state's voter-approved constitutional amendment banning same-sex
marriage. Voters in 2000 and again in 2002 approved Question 2. The
earliest voters could consider repealing the ban would be 2020.