Members of the Mississippi congressional delegation voted Tuesday for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

The vote was 236-187 with one member voting “present,” a slight improvement over the last House vote just before the 2004 election but still 47 short of the two-thirds majority needed to advance a constitutional amendment.

Mississippi Democrats Bennie Thompson and Gene Taylor and Republicans Chip Pickering and Roger Wicker voted for the amendment.

Supporters argued that Congress must trump the actions of judges around the country who have ruled in favor of gay marriages.

Opponents, including 27 Republicans, argued that the measure was unneeded, mean-spirited and meaningless. The Senate rejected the amendment last month, effectively killing it for this session of Congress.