Topeka ? A Senate committee today postponed voting on a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution that would prohibit gay marriages.

Judiciary Committee Chairman John Vratil, R-Leawood, said he was delaying the vote until Monday because the committee was forced today to meet in a small room.

“We are not in a place where the public can attend and watch us,” Vratil said.

The move by Vratil seemed to confuse both supporters and opponents of the proposal.

“All you need is 11 chairs,” to hold a committee meeting, said state Sen. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, who supports the amendment.

Forrest Swall of Lawrence, who opposes it, said he felt political pressure from conservatives was building on committee members to push the amendment out for a full Senate vote.

“My hunch is it is going to go through,” Swall said.

The judiciary committee usually meets in a larger room on the first floor of the Capitol, but that room was occupied this morning by the Senate budget-writing committee. So the judiciary committee was meeting in a smaller room on the fifth floor.

Under the amendment, Kansas would recognize only marriages between one man and one woman and confer the legal rights associated with marriage only on such couples.

State law already says marriages in Kansas can only be between a man and a woman, but supporters of the proposed amendment say the rule needs to be placed in the state constitution to protect marriage from court decisions that say same-sex marriages must be recognized.

Opponents to the amendment said it would increase discrimination against homosexuals.

The proposal has already been approved in the House. If approved by a two-thirds vote in the Senate, the amendment will be on either the August or November ballot for statewide consideration.