Blog Post

Same-sex marriage controversy shifts to North Carolina

June 3, 2015 | by NCC Staff

The latest battleground over same-sex marriage and religious freedom is in a state where the legislature might allow state officials to stop performing all marriages, for a limited time, in certain cases.

 

gay_marriage_protestNorth Carolina’s Senate Bill 2 doesn’t address gay marriage directly, but the intent is clear. It is titled, “an act to allow magistrates, Assistant Registers of deeds, and deputy registers of deeds to recuse themselves from performing duties related to marriage ceremonies due to sincerely held religious objection.”

 

The act allows the North Carolina officials to recuse themselves from performing ceremonies or issuing licenses for all marriage ceremonies for six months. After that period, an official can apply to rescind their objections. Officials who supervise the opting-out lower officials must ensure that all people seeking a license or a marriage ceremony have an opportunity to get licensed or married by a willing government official.

 

The act, sponsored by senator Phillip Berger, was passed by the North Carolina Senate and House in separate votes, but it was subsequently vetoed by North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory.

 

“I recognize for many North Carolinians, including myself, opinions on same-sex marriage come from sincerely held religious beliefs that marriage is between a man and a woman,” McCrory said in his veto statement. “However, we are a nation and a state of laws. Whether it is the president, governor, major, a law enforcement officer, or magistrate, no public official who voluntarily swears to support and defend the Constitution and to discharge all duties of their office should be exempt from upholding that oath.”

 

But the state Senate overrode McCrory’s veto on Monday, and the House is expected to vote soon about the veto. "Just because someone takes a job with the government does not mean they give up their First Amendment rights," Berger said on Monday.

 

The Senate veto override was expected, and the act’s fate in the state House is uncertain. Governor McCrory is a Republican and the Senate and House are also controlled by Republicans.

 

North Carolina’s House has 120 members, and they voted 67-43 to initially pass the bill, with 10 other members absent and not voting. The state’s veto law says that “three-fifths of the members of that house present and voting” can override a veto. A similar 67-43 vote would override the veto by just a two-vote margin, so how the 10 formerly absent voters act is  critical in the process.

 

The state House is expected to take up the measure on Wednesday.

 

North Carolina first barred same-sex marriage by statute in 1996 and a state constitutional amendment reaffirmed that decision in 2012. However, in October 2014 the Fourth Circuit Appeals Court ruled that same-sex marriage bans in North Carolina, as well as four other states, were unconstitutional.

 

The Supreme Court is expected to decide on the same-sex marriage issue in late June.


 
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