Why NC Needs a Marriage Amendment

Marriage in North Carolina is under attack and needs protection. Activist judges in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and California overturned their state marriage laws because they only allowed marriage between a man and a woman. They declared traditional marriage unconstitutional and ushered in same-sex “marriage,” overriding the people’s wishes in their states. This type of judicial activism could be coming to a court in North Carolina very soon.

Fortunately, voters in California overrode their Court’s redefinition of marriage when they passed Proposition 8 this past November protecting the traditional definition of marriage. Unfortunately, voters in North Carolina have been denied this same opportunity.

An unknown number of same-sex couples that reside in North Carolina have already obtained marriage licenses in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and California before Proposition 8 passed. At any time, one or more of these couples could file suit in a North Carolina court in an attempt to convince a judge to overturn our State’s marriage laws, arguing that they unconstitutionally prohibit “marriages” between same-sex couples. Without a provision in our State Constitution defining marriage as the union between only a man and a woman, any court in our State could redefine marriage by legalizing the union of same-sex couples.

We must protect marriage by convincing our legislators to pass a Marriage Protection Amendment bill that will allow the people of North Carolina to vote on a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of only a man and a woman. To date, 30 states have passed Marriage Protection Amendments that place the traditional definition of marriage in their constitutions and beyond the reach of judicial activists. Unfortunately, North Carolina is the only state in the southern United States that has not protected marriage in its State Constitution, thus making us a target for same-sex “marriage.”

North Carolina is the only state in the Southern U.S. that has not protected marriage by passing a Marriage Protection Amendment. The 14 other Southern states that have adopted state Marriage Protection Amendments have done so with an average of 74% of the vote of the people.