"Make no mistake," the Omaha state senator said, "every time same-sex couples get the same recognition as a married couple, the Nebraska Constitution and the will of Nebraskans gets undermined... As governor, I will not allow the institution of marriage or our constitution to be attacked by expanding state benefits to state employees in same-sex relationships who get married in other states."I was born and (mostly) raised in Nebraska. I had my first same-sex crushes as a young teen in small-town Nebraska. But there are many reasons why I will likely never move back to the neighboring state of Nebraska with my family, unlike Minnesota where I spent my teen years.
Nebraska passed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage back in 2000. The same constitutional amendment also bans recognition of other types of same-sex relationships, such as civil unions or domestic partnerships. Frankly, it's unclear to me (someone who explicitly supports marriage equality) how equal marriage benefits in Douglas County are constitutionally allowable.