S.C. voters are closer to being able to decide whether the state constitution should ban same-sex marriages after senators sped up action on the measure Thursday.

As a result, the Senate could vote as early as March 31 on a bill prohibiting same-sex marriage. If the bill passes — and it is expected to — a referendum to amend the S.C. Constitution could be held in November 2006.

The amendment would define marriage as between a man and a woman and would prohibit South Carolina from recognizing same-sex marriages approved in other states. S.C. law already bans gay marriage.

Sen. John Hawkins, R-Spartanburg, said he pushed the Senate to speed up the bill because he was afraid a judge would recognize a same-sex marriage, and “someone would try to come to South Carolina and foist it on us here.”

“We need to clearly define our laws,” he said. “I believe people will overwhelmingly support it.”

Hawkins said several bills prohibiting same-sex marriage had been trapped in a Senate subcommittee headed by Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston, who opposes the amendment.

Ford said the Senate should hear from both sides of the issue before voting. There is no need to rush, he added, because the referendum couldn’t be held until 2006.

“The problem we have in the General Assembly is that we have too many bigots running the joint,” Ford said. “This is a civil rights issue.”

But in two procedural moves and 2½ hours of tense debate, senators Thursday created a way to get around Ford.

First, they voted 37-4 to take advantage of a rule allowing them to pull one of the bills out of Ford’s subcommittee.

Ford, Sens. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, and Kay Patterson, D-Richland, and Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, voted against removing the bill from Ford’s panel.

McConnell said the move was disrespectful and would set a dangerous precedent.

“In 25 years in the Senate, I have never seen that done to another senator,” said McConnell, who said he supports the gay marriage ban.

McConnell said Ford had scheduled a hearing on the bill for Thursday afternoon and was dedicated to taking action.

After hearing that, senators agreed to leave the bill in the Judiciary Committee but to require members hear it March 29.

Hawkins said he needed to force the vote because Ford and McConnell, who heads the Judiciary Committee, were not moving fast enough. “I had not seen enough effort on the part of the leadership to energetically move this bill,” he said.

McConnell was furious.

Hawkins’ move caused a “political stampede,” he said, because senators were afraid that if they voted “No,” it would be used against them in the future.

Ford said Hawkins and others don’t want to hear the other side.

An amendment banning same-sex marriage is unnecessary because it’s already prohibited by state law, Ford said.

His opinion was reinforced at the subcommittee hearing Thursday afternoon. USC law professor Andrew Siegel testified the U.S. Supreme Court could decide to strike down the S.C. amendment anyway.

Reach Talhelm at (803) 771-8339 or jtalhelm@thestate.com