One day after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its rulings on gay marriage, two state House Democrats said Thursday that they will introduce a bill that would allow same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania.

State Reps. Brian Sims and Steve McCarter, both from the Philadelphia area, say they will push the bill in the state House of Representatives. Sims is the first openly gay lawmaker ever elected to the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

. However, Sims and McCarter want to take a shot at toppling that law.

"LGBT Pennsylvanians are seeing their neighbors in New York, Maryland and Delaware, among other states, now qualify for the approximately 1,000 federal rights and benefits that come with civil marriage and they are increasingly asking why they don't have those same rights, as well as the state rights and benefits," Sims said in the statement.

State Sen. Daylin Leach, a Democrat from Montgomery County, has pushed a similar bill in his chamber with little success.

Republicans control the House and the state Senate, so legislation allowing gay marriage is highly unlikely to reach the floor of either chamber, much less win approval.



Republican Gov. Tom Corbett has repeatedly said he opposes gay marriage. The governor has also said that he would support a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.



Republican state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe of Butler County has pushed legislation for such an amendment, arguing that it would be far more lasting than a state law that could be changed or revoked. In light of the Supreme Court ruling, the American Family Association of Pennsylvania, a conservative group, called on lawmakers to support a constitutional amendment.



On Wednesday, the high court issued a decision stating that married gay couples were entitled to federal benefits, a watershed moment for same-sex couples.



In a separate decision, the court ruled that same-sex marriage could resume in California. However, the court ruling did nothing to overturn bans of same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania and other states.

