Same-sex marriage ban gains steam

If some Tar Heel legislators have their way, civil unions and marriages of same-sex couples will be prohibited in North Carolina.

With the N.C. General Assembly set to convene this month, opponents and proponents of the problematic issue are set to square off.

During the 2004 election, voters in 11 states banned same-sex marriages.

For conservative Christians looking to acquire paybacks from President Bush for turning out en masse on Election Day, the issue tops their agenda.

But North Carolinians might not have to wait for Bush to fulfill his campaign pledge to define marriage as taking place between a man and a woman.

Lawmakers in the N.C. House and Senate introduced similar legislation last May to prohibit same-sex marriages through a state constitutional amendment, but the bill has not been scheduled for a vote.

“If the issue goes to the people of North Carolina, it will pass by more than 60 percent,” said Rep. Russell Capps, R-Wake. “It will pull the electorate together. When a nation returns to its values, it will grow in unity.”

Lawmakers are using data to lead the push for the amendment.

An October poll conducted by The (Raleigh) News & Observer showed 61 percent of the state’s voters in favor an amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibiting same-sex marriage.

The bill’s supporters point to two recent cases: a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a Texas sodomy law and to bestow privacy rights to gay men and lesbians and the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that gay men and lesbians have the right to marry.

“The reasoning in those cases would allow polygamy and adult incest,” said Rep. Paul Stam, R-Wake, a sponsor of the House bill. “It would be bad for the children.”

Yet some lawmakers see the amendment as unnecessary.

Rep. Linda Coleman, D-Wake, said North Carolinians shouldn’t attempt to legislate morality.

She noted that state lawmakers ratified a bill in 1996 that barred recognition of same-sex marriages.

“It’s already on the books,” she said.

“What more would an amendment do? It’s like when something is dead — you don’t shoot it again.”

But Bill Brooks, executive director of the N.C. Family Policy Council, said an amendment to the constitution is necessary because a law could be overridden.

“The constitutional amendment takes a vote of the people and a super majority of legislators.”

Many voters in the Bible Belt are looking to affirm traditional family values, which they said would be eroded if gay men and lesbians were allowed to marry.

Brooks said the monetary incentives that come with marriage should not be given to same-sex couples.

“The question becomes why should they be given the same rights as a man and woman?” he said. “The economic benefits are designed for a man and woman.”

But Ian Palmquist, executive director of programs at the Raleigh-based gay rights group Equality NC, said that many same-sex couples are raising children in the state and that those children are in jeopardy if an amendment passes.

“These people are being denied benefits and are at risk if an illness or death occurs. The amendment is bad policy.”

Some N.C. towns have started to provide benefits for same-sex couples. Though many voters support the ban, the state’s first openly gay senator, Julia Boseman, D-New Hanover, was elected in November.

Having Boseman in the General Assembly, Palmquist said, is a plus not only for gay men and lesbians but also for all North Carolinians.

“She can provide her personal take on it,” he said. “But it’s not the only issue she knows.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.