FRANKFORT, Ky.--Voters in the state of Kentucky will make their voices heard this fall on a marriage amendment passed at the eleventh hour by a legislature which also failed to pass a budget.

According to Baptist Press, the Kentucky Senate passed a state constitutional marriage amendment by a vote of 33-5 April 13, one day after the House passed an amendment by a vote of 85-11. Both votes came on the final two days of the legislative session.

While state law in Kentucky already prohibits same-sex marriage, the amendment proposes additional protection of traditional marriage and a ban on Vermont-type civil unions. Proponents say more protection is necessary in light of state court rulings in Massachusetts and illegal marriages in California, New Mexico and elsewhere.

Kentucky is the fourth state to send a marriage amendment to voters, following Georgia, Mississippi and Utah.

"Basically, the will of the people presided over the will of some liberal components of the Democratic caucus," Kent Ostrander, executive director of the Family Foundation of Kentucky, told Baptist Press.

Only a few weeks ago, the passage of the amendment seemed impossible. The House was divided along party lines. Democrats added superfluous language to the amendment in what Republicans charged was an attempt to stall its passage.

But House Democrats said they heard from their constituents and voted accordingly.

"I've gotten 500 to 600 messages on this," Democratic Rep. Rob Wilkey told the Lexington Herald-Leader.

The Family Foundation, a Lexington-based pro-family group that has lobbied for other issues, such as gambling and the right to life, led the effort to pressure legislators to reconsider the amendment. Ostrander encouraged constituents to write and e-mail their representative.

"Our understanding is that in recent history there has never been an outcry and a communication with the legislature on any issue like this one," he said.

"I'm doing this for my church people, my Christians and all the people in my district," Democratic Rep. Hubie Collins told the Herald-Leader.

The amendment states: "Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Kentucky. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized."

Ostrander said the goal was not to ban same-sex marriage but to "protect marriage from any kind of redefinition."