MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a resolution urging an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ban gay marriage.

Rep. Patricia Todd, Alabama’s first openly gay legislator, accused lawmakers of approving the resolution on the sly and without open debate.

The resolution calls for a national constitutional convention to approve the gay marriage ban. Todd said House Rules Committee members told lawmakers only that they were asking for a constitutional convention, not that they were seeking one to ban gay marriage.

Todd, D-Birmingham, said she and other legislators would have spoken against the resolution if it had been fully described. She said she was hurt and believed the resolution was deliberately slipped in surreptitiously by lawmakers.

“I respect your opinion about the way I live my life and who I love, as I respect yours. I am appalled that this chamber would have resorted to something like this to make a point,” Todd said.

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Many legislators applauded after Todd spoke on the House floor.

Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore earlier this year sent a letter to all 50 governors urging them to get their legislatures to call for a convention to add an amendment to the U.S. Constitution saying the only union recognized by state and federal governments is “the union of one man and one woman.”

A similar resolution has not gotten a vote in the Alabama Senate.

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