CHEYENNE -- Wyoming wouldn't recognize the validity of same-sex marriages performed in other states under a bill that cleared its first hearing in the House of Representatives.

Thirty-four members of the 60-member House voted Thursday in favor of a bill sponsored by Rep. Owen Petersen, R-Mountain View, and others. The vote came after an hour of impassioned debate.

Critics decried the bill as an attack on gays and lesbians. Supporters urged representatives to stand up for the state's traditional definition of marriage as involving only one man and one woman.

Wyoming law currently specifies that the state must respect legal marriages performed elsewhere. A same-sex divorce case is pending in the state supreme court.

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