North Dakota Senate rejects resolution opposing same-sex marriage

The North Dakota Senate rejected a resolution Thursday that would have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its same-sex marriage ruling from 2015.

Members voted down House Resolution 3013 on a 31-16 vote. It was not a roll call vote, which means it did not identify how individual lawmakers voted.

Sen. Diane Larson, R-Bismarck, introduced the resolution and told lawmakers to vote how they saw fit. The Senate Judiciary Committee, which Larson chairs, voted 6-1 on Wednesday to advance the resolution to the floor without a recommendation.

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Sen. Josh Boschee, D-Fargo, told his fellow lawmakers that even though the resolution would just send a letter to the U.S. Supreme Court that justices would probably never read, it would send a loud message to residents of North Dakota. 

“We all know based on the emails, and the phone calls, and the text messages we’ve received that many North Dakotans are paying attention to this,” Boschee said.

He then requested a roll call vote, which required eight senators to support in order to proceed. Boschee and five other senators stood, falling short.

Sen. Sean Cleary, R-Bismarck, expressed disappointment that there would be no record of how lawmakers voted.

“I think we owe that to our constituents when we come into this chamber on issues that are of public importance,” Cleary said.

Cleary said opponents of the resolution were not asking for any special treatment, only equal treatment under the law.

In an interview after the floor vote, Larson said resolutions are usually passed by a voice vote, but she requested a verification vote to give a more accurate reflection of the entire body.

“I’m hopeful that people will recognize that the result is the more important thing,” Larson said. “I just think that it’s a good thing for people, on a bill that is so difficult … I think that offered each legislator the opportunity to thoughtfully cast their vote without fear of whatever their vote was on either side being used as a weapon against them.”

Boschee said he was happy the resolution was defeated by his Senate colleagues. Moving forward, he said state lawmakers need to get serious about the bills they introduce and recognize that everything they do has an impact on someone.

“Legislators need to stop trying to legislate morality,” Boschee said. “Leave people alone. Let them live their lives.”

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Kathy Hogan, D-Fargo, said handling the resolution this week has been “horrific” because people felt threatened, which led to an outpouring of messages and phone calls from constituents.

“I’m excited to move past it, but I also want to tell people that were so angry about being hurt that I’m sorry,” Hogan said after the vote. “I am sorry that anyone had to go through this and I really regret it, and it’s painful to have citizens in my district hurt so badly.”

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The ACLU of North Dakota said the Senate made the right decision.

“This resolution was a bigoted and unpopular view on same-sex marriage and an affront to queer people in our state,” Cody Schuler, ACLU of North Dakota advocacy manager, said in a statement. “We’re disappointed, however, that because of the blind vote, North Dakotans will not be able to see how their senators voted.” 

The sponsor of House Resolution 3013, Rep. Bill Tveit, R-Hazen, said he brought the resolution because it was a part of his faith and the original founding principles of the state and country. The resolution was also supported by MassResistance, which the GLAAD Accountability Project  describes as an anti-LGBTQ hate group. 

The resolution passed the House on a 52-40 vote in February.

This story was updated with additional comments.