The vote is a victory for the liberal side in the conflict over homosexuality that has divided U.S. Presbyterians for 24 years. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has 3.6 million members.
The result was announced on the Internet news site Presbyweb.com, which has closely monitored the voting. The official count at denominational headquarters in Louisville, Ky., lags behind, but both sides have acknowledged for days that the proposal was dead.
Under the Presbyterian system, the measure to ban same-sex ceremonies was passed by the national assembly last June and sent to 173 regional legislatures, known as ``presbyteries,'' for ratification. A simple majority of 87 presbyteries was needed for passage but the count now stands at 63 in favor and 87 opposed, defeating the measure.
Hans Cornelder, who runs the nonpartisan Presbyweb site, said most Presbyterians oppose same-sex rituals but the proposal lost because those voting felt it intruded too much on the powers of local clergy and congregations.
``Very few people in the presbytery debates have spoken in favor of blessing same-sex unions,'' he said.
Presbytery voting continues through April.
The so-called ``Amendment O'' proposal was a conservative bid to overturn the policy set by the denomination's highest court in a ruling last May about a blessing ceremony at South Presbyterian Church in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
