"You just can't close the doors on people's rights," Sen. Ford says. "If they feel they have a right to a civil union, and if enough voters agree with that then we're gonna have it."

But getting his bill through the Statehouse isn't all he's up against. Voters would have to pass a new Constitutional amendment to undo the one that passed in 2006, since it says a marriage between one man and one woman is the only lawful domestic union that shall be valid or recognized in the state.

Sen. Mike Fair, R-Greenville, doesn't think Sen. Ford's bill has a chance. "There's no support for same-sex marriage in the General Assembly, probably because in this regard...the General Assembly is a reflection of the public at large in South Carolina." The 2006 amendment passed 78 percent to 22 percent.