via flickr/jennlynndesign
The 39-hour filibuster started Monday and broke the record for longest continuous filibuster in Missouri.
Update, 4/27: Senate Joint Resolution 39 failed to pass out of a House committee, ending its journey through the legislature. The vote was a 6-6 tie, with Republican Representatives Anne Zerr, Caleb Rowden, and Jim Hansen joining the committee’s three Democrats to vote no. Below is our original story.
After 39 hours of filibustering against a bill criticized for allowing discrimination against LGBT Missourians, Democratic state senators have broken the local record for longest filibuster and drawn praise from presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders and supporters in St. Louis and around the world.
But a rare procedural maneuver allowed Republicans to halt debate Wednesday morning and force a vote on Senate Joint Resolution 39, a bill that would grant greater Constitutional protections for some business owners and individuals opposed to gay marriage.
The Senate voted to approve the bill Wednesday morning and will vote once more, likely sending the legislation to the Missouri House. If the legislature approves the measure, voters will have their say about the proposed Constitutional amendment on the November ballot.
See also: Business Owner Opposes Anti-LGBT Discrimination Bill: “I Have the God-Given Freedom to Discriminate”
The controversial bill would protect business owners and individuals who refuse to provide “goods of expressional or artistic creation” for same-sex weddings, such as floral designers or bakers, due to a “sincere religious belief.” The bill also shields religious organizations who refuse to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies or allow them on the organization’s property.
“No one should be compelled to make a work with their own hands that’s offensive to their beliefs,” Sen. Bob Onder, a St. Charles County Republican, told the Kansas City Star.
Missouri’s bill mirrors attempts by conservatives in other states—notably Indiana, where the Religious Freedom Restoration Act drew widespread condemnation and boycott threats last year —to frame refusal to provide services to LGBT weddings as an expression of religious freedom.
Democrats in Missouri say the bill solidifies anti-LGBT discrimination into the state Constitution.
Photo by Kevin A. Roberts
Maria Chappelle-Nadal.
“This is a major scarring of equality in Missouri,” State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a Democrat, told The New York Times. “We are living in an environment where hatred is alive, and we as a caucus are not going to tolerate it.”
Chappelle-Nadal is one of eight senators who stood on the senate floor to filibuster the bill. The other lawmakers are Kiki Curls, Jason Holsman, Joseph Keaveny, Jamilah Nasheed, Jill Schupp, Scott Sifton, and Gina Walsh.
Legal experts have said the bill, which would amend the Constitution, could have widespread and unintended consequences.
“If voted into law, LGBT people and their families could suddenly find themselves at risk of being denied many basic services,” the Human Rights Campaign noted in a statement. “Taxpayer-funded foster care providers and adoption agencies could refuse to place children in need of loving homes with same-sex couples. Taxpayer funded homeless shelters could turn away LGBT couples and their families.”
Republicans ended debate on SJR 39 by using a maneuver called “moving the previous question,” which calls for a simple majority vote to end a filibuster and force a vote on the bill.
The historic debate, which began around 4:20 p.m. Monday, marks the longest continuous filibuster in recent Missouri history, according to the Associated Press. A 1999 filibuster against an abortion bill lasted more than 38 hours, spread over six legislative days.
Contact Lindsay Toler by an email at LToler@stlmag.com or on Twitter @StLouisLindsay. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
