AUSTIN (AP) – A Democratic lawmaker has introduced a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Texas, 10 years after the Legislature proposed a constitutional amendment banning it.

Fort Worth Rep. Lon Burnam said Thursday he filed the measure as a Valentine’s Day gift to all Texans. If passed, the bill would legalize same-sex marriage once Texas voters remove the constitutional prohibition against it. Texas voters imposed the ban in 2005.

Democrats have already filed three joint resolutions calling for a new statewide vote on gay marriage.

Nine states have legalized same-sex marriages and, on Thursday, the Illinois Senate approved another such measure.

Gov. Rick Perry and conservative Republican championed the ban. None of the bills have much chance of passing the Republican-controlled Legislature, but Democrats want to vote on them anyway.

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