Breaking: North Carolina Passes Amendment to Ban Gay Marriage

Source: AP / MSNBC

NC approves amendment on gay marriage

By MARTHA WAGGONER, Associated Press – 5 minutes ago

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina voters have approved a constitutional amendment defining marriage solely as a union between a man and a woman, making it the 30th state to adopt such a ban.

With 35 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday, unofficial returns showed the amendment passing with about 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent against.

In the days before the vote, members of President Barack Obama's cabinet expressed support for gay marriage and former President Bill Clinton recorded phone messages urging voters to reject the amendment.

Meanwhile, supporters ran their own ad campaigns and church leaders urged Sunday congregations to vote for the amendment. The Rev. Billy Graham was featured in full-page newspaper ads supporting the amendment.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jMc52sVsFTFWWyrhx6CZZlko3Omg?docId=3e14159cd8044b958b3d26ef8e32c0d4

---

Oh, I am so proud of my idiot state tonight.

Unconstitutional AND bigoted to boot.

http://www.prop8trialtracker.com/2012/05/07/north-carolina-prop-8-backers-responsible-for-anti-gay-amendment-1s-broad-language/

North Carolina: Prop 8 backers Alliance Defense Fund responsible for anti-gay Amendment 1's broad language
May 7, 2012

By Scottie Thomaston

The language of North Carolina’s Amendment 1 – that the “only domestic legal union” that will be “valid or recognized” in North Carolina – is exceptionally broad and incredibly unclear. The ballot language is also unprecedented and undefined in North Carolina law. Since the proponents of the amendment went forward with the proposed amendment language, questions have been raised often about whether the amendment will eliminate protections against domestic violence for those in domestic partnerships. The statute relied upon in domestic violence cases uses a defined set of “recognize(d)” relationships. But the amendment clearly changes North Carolina law to only “recognize” one type of relationship: marriage between a man and a woman. And even research linked on the Vote For Marriage NC site – the website of the proponents – admits the amendment will ban civil unions and domestic partnerships. This will eliminate all the rights associated with currently existing domestic partnerships, including children’s health insurance.

It didn’t have to be this way:

This weekend, (NC House Majority Leader) Stam finally explained (why the amendment's language is so broad and unclear) to the Fayetteville Observer who reported it this way. Stam, the Raleigh lawmaker, said he wanted a more narrowly worded amendment but was “overruled” by “national experts” he identified as the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal advocacy group.

The Alliance Defense Fund is a leader in pushing anti-gay initiatives. They helped put Proposition 8 on the ballot. In fact, they fought to make Proposition 8′s language unclear:



And there is a reason for their desire to make the language as vague as possible:


MORE AT LINK

http://www.wral.com/news/political/page/10991843