Amendment One, North Carolina Gay Marriage Ban, Faces Vote

* State already outlaws same-sex marriage by statute

* Candidates for Congress, governor also being considered

By Wade Rawlins

Raleigh, N.C., May 8 (Reuters) - North Carolina voters could deal a blow to efforts across the country to expand gay marriage rights if they approve a state constitutional amendment on Tuesday to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions.

The state is the only one in the Southeast without such a constitutional prohibition, though same-sex marriage is already outlawed by statute.

The amendment is being decided amid heightened rhetoric about gay marriage from officials in the Obama administration. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Sunday he was "absolutely comfortable" with allowing same-sex couples to wed, and Education Secretary Arne Duncan sai d gay marriage should be legal.

President Barack Obama has said he favors civil unions but has stopped short of supporting gay marriage.

Supporters of the proposed amendment in North Carolina, a swing state in the Nov. 6 presidential election, say it would preserve the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman and make laws forbidding gay marriage harder to repeal.

Opponents say a ban would jeopardize health insurance benefits for unmarried gay and heterosexual couples and signal that the state is unfriendly to a diverse workforce.

Former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, recorded a call just ahead of the vote urging North Carolinians to reject the proposed amendment.

"If it passes, it won't change North Carolina's law on marriage," he said in a message sponsored by the Coalition to Protect North Carolina Families. "What it will change is North Carolina's ability to keep good businesses, attract new jobs and attract and keep talented entrepreneurs."

A survey of 1,026 likely Democratic and Republican primary voters showed North Carolinians look poised to pass the amendment.

Raleigh-based Public Policy Polling found 55 percent of those questioned on May 5-6 supported the amendment banning gay marriage and civil unions while 39 percent opposed it. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.

Twenty-eight states have voter-approved constitutional bans on same-sex marriages, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Massachusetts, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York and the District of Columbia allow gay and lesbian nuptials. Maryland, New Jersey and Washington state passed laws this year approving same-sex marriage, but Governor Chris Christie vetoed New Jersey's law and opponents of Maryland's and Washington's are threatening ballot initiatives to overturn those laws.


OTHER BALLOT ISSUES

North Carolina voters also will consider candidates for gubernatorial and congressional races.

The state's 13-member congressional delegation currently includes seven Democrats and six Republicans, but Republicans see an opportunity to pick up seats with the retirement of two Democratic incumbents.

Congressmen Brad Miller and Heath Shuler opted to retire rather than run in new districts redrawn by the Republican-controlled legislature.

The race for Miller's 13th congressional district features a Republican primary contest between George Holding, a former U.S. attorney, and former Raleigh mayor Paul Coble. While a federal prosecutor, Holding's office built the criminal campaign finance case against former U.S. Senator John Edwards, a Democrat.

Coble has accused Holding of wasting taxpayer money to advance his political career, saying the prosecution of Edwards over donor money used to hide his pregnant mistress during his 2008 presidential bid was political - a charge that Holding's campaign rejected in television ads.

Democratic Governor Bev Perdue's surprise decision in January not to seek a second term left Democrats scrambling to raise money and name recognition in the few months before Tuesday's primary.

The leading Democratic candidates are Walter Dalton, the state's lieutenant governor; Bob Etheridge, a former seven-term congressman and state superintendent of public instruction; and Bill Faison, a state representative.

A candidate will need 40 percent of the vote to claim the nomination without a runoff. The winner will face the presumptive Republican nominee Pat McCrory, a former Charlotte mayor who has minor primary opposition and has focused on building his campaign war chest.

McCrory, who lost to Perdue four years ago, has raised more than $3 million for his 2012 campaign, according to reports filed with the North Carolina Board of Elections. Dalton has raised $1.4 million, the most among Democratic contenders. (Reporting by Wade Rawlins; Writing By Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Vicki Allen)

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Comments

[gardinsprite13]

08:54 PM on 05/25/2012

We should Spend our money elsewhere on the net Buy as much as you can from other States. Tell people to Not Vacation in NC,take their money somewhere else!
This will bring about some big money Loss for the State! Then we need to put some of these NC Baptist Churches in the Red they should have their TAX Exemptions removed Government take control over the Church Assets when Violating Laws of Church and State or promoting Death Threats and Terrorism. Public Schools in Buncumbe County were found to be sneaking Christian Bibles in School to Children! NC is 25 yr's in the past it's Laws do not protect Homeowners,Anyone want to buy a home here better check the Laws. Better get a Family Trust if you own a Home anyone can file in Court and take your Home even a Car Lot, Con Men are every where and No Work.

[Carla van der Meer]

12:17 PM on 05/09/2012

Really, people, defending the 'sanctity' of marriage? In this day and age of high divorce rates and sham celebrity marriages? If Kim K can get married to make a buck, I'd say the ship has sailed on the sanctity of marriage. Get a life.

[Chris McCauley]

10:59 PM on 05/08/2012

As a North Carolinian I would like to apologize for the intolerance my state showed today. I'm a STRAIGHT male and could careless what people of the homosexual persuasion want to do with their lives. You ALL SHOULD have the same rights as anyone else. Hell the divorce rate is so high its obvious the majority of people don't give a damn anyway. I can tell you that if Christianity truly preaches tolerance as Christian's say, it should apply to ALL people. As of tonight I no longer want to have any affiliation with this religion, and if that means I go to Hell its something I'm willing to accept. I'd rather live my life and treat all people the way they deserve, than to spew the hatred exhibited by this religion through the pushing of this bill. Normally I try to view political parties without bias as an Independent. However, the Republican congress has exhibited what it represents today. Let me say that all the college students are taking notice, we saw you shoot down the college loan bill, and we saw your party push to pass Amendment 1. WE are this countries future, you are the past. One can only hope that all of your hatred ends with you. My hope is that the attack on a century of American progress by some Republicans and Christians can be stopped before it is to late and we are sent spiraling into Jim Crow laws and who knows what else.

[margiebe]

02:26 PM on 05/09/2012

Don't worry. You are not going to hell.Whatever it is that created us gave us free will. I believe we need to be tolerant,do some good in this world,and vote democrat.:))

[dav0001]

08:19 PM on 05/09/2012

I for one have to thank you for what you said. This may sound strange considering I'm pretty much a full fledged athiest, but I don't think you should give up on your religion. I think distancing yourself from the people in it that are doing wrong would be good but don't let a group of evil people ruin your faith. I have faith, just not in the belief that there is a god and there was a Jesus and the like, but I do have faith.

[Fortune Melissa]

09:45 PM on 05/08/2012

In the eleven years since I left North Carolina, I've never felt so far away from my home state. Supporters of Amendment One, you disgrace all North Carolinians and the world is watching.

[tgrfan42069]

09:26 PM on 05/08/2012

good to see that some people arent scared to stand by their views and opinions.this day in age if you are against the gay marriage you are deemed to have a fear of gays and a bigot.well call me a homophobe and bigot if you must but i stand by my opinions

[Carla van der Meer]

12:13 PM on 05/09/2012

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, however unenlightened they may be, but they should not push those opinions on others, who are only looking for fair and humane treatment.

[WaitingForNovember]

09:22 PM on 05/08/2012

Well this amendment passed. As I said in an earlier post I believe this new law goes well beyond what most people who voted for it thought it did. Most people do not read the laws they are voting for and the media basically concentrated their reporting on the gay marriage portion of the law and disregarded the other portions of the law. The same thing they did in Louisiana and thank God I fully read a proposal before I vote on it. But it passed and it will affect a lot more people who are straight in North Carolina than it will affect gay couples.

[Methamfetameen]

09:21 PM on 05/08/2012

Let the people decide.

[MagicActor]

09:33 PM on 05/09/2012

Can we decide on straight marriages, too? Can we put those to a vote?

[Methamfetameen]

09:20 PM on 05/08/2012

if u dont like it, stay out of north carolina

[WaitingForNovember]

09:17 PM on 05/08/2012

Have aleady expressed my comments on gay marriage and got alot of heat for it. However, this law goes far beyond probably what MOST people who voted for the amendment thought. Many people, probably a huge percent, actually voted against their own interest tonight. This law pretty much takes away all unmarried couple rights. They did the same thing in Louisiana. I voted no on the law AFTER I fully read the law. Again, I am not for gay marriage (as my opinion is that marriage is defined in the Bible and an act SUPPOSELY done before God) but I am FULLY for civil unions with all the rights of a marriage couple for all who chose not to be married but who chose to have a permanent relationship with their partners.

[pjmarkov]

08:31 PM on 05/08/2012

I want a checklist on my federal taxes that indicates what states I want my hard earned gay-dollars to go. I don't want North Carolina to get a penny of my tax funding. Let their churches support them when a god fated storm wipes them out. I happen to be a soft touch for charitable causes and social services and why then should states that oppose my decision of lifestyle based upon the bible to determine my invalid status. I wish Mitt Romney upon them who will cut their taxes and cut their social services and take government out of their lives and let them live in their KKK pig-sty of a state.

[Chris McCauley]

11:02 PM on 05/08/2012

Not all of us are like that, I voted against it trust me its a bad night for a lot of our states citizens.

[pjmarkov]

11:13 PM on 05/19/2012

I thank you for replying.  I did not mean to insult everyone in the state. The decision makes me feel as if I have been slapped in the face and I don't even live there.  I do hope a time comes when a progressive state like N.C. can be accepting.  Thanks Chris for taking the edge off for me you are a good person to reply and I wish you well. T.

[cah1470]

02:15 PM on 05/08/2012

I am so tired of the distraction of discrimination to keep our government officials from doing the work for the public they were elected to do. Not one of these moral code amendments should be left up to a majority rules system. Each one of us should be allowed to answer for ourselves spiritually and morally without laws trying to force feed a majority's view. I live in Charlotte and my son didn't have any available substitute teachers this year because of budget cuts. He had blocks merged together last year, social studies and science taught by the same teacher on alternating dates, in the 8th grade. This is what elected officials should be concerning themselves with. And frankly if I hear the phrase sanctity of marriage one more time I will scream. There is no sanctity in marriage, the divorce rate is 50%, people marry 3 and 4 times, straight couples live together for infinity, raising families that are a hodgepodge of baby mamas and baby daddies and the drama that comes with it. We have a 8.whatever unemployment rate folks, there are more important things to worry about and for the public to focus on.

[BradMindS]

02:05 PM on 05/08/2012

At the same time President Obama's stand on gay marriage equality remains unclear, giving no certain support on marriage equality for the LGBT community, the voters in North Carolina are likely to pass their state constitutional amendment today that will prohibit gay marriages and even civil unions. Not only for the sake of our gay and Lesbian brothers and sisters, but for all Americans' rights for personal freedoms, we need strong support in the White House to push back against bigoted, hate-driven legislation! The Libertarian Party candidate for President, former New Mexico Governor, Gary Johnson, speaks out firmly in support of gay marriage equality. He has been consistent in his support, standing on the Libertarian Party Platform's principle on personal relationships.

[Roman Miguel Garcia]

01:45 PM on 05/08/2012

Massachusetts, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York and the District of Columbia allow gay and lesbian nuptials. Maryland, New Jersey and Washington state passed laws this year approving same-sex marriage. Majority will rule. One God we are all equal.

[GMHNYC]

01:55 PM on 05/08/2012

Does it even phase you that you just made up a bunch of stuff?

- There is no such thing as gay bowel disease
- Rates of depression are high in the gay community because of attitudes like yours
- Homosexuals do not have increased healthcare costs. However, obese people do. Can we pass an amendment against obesity?
- I am offended by men with short hair. I would like an amendment against them.
- Couples who choose not to have children also sever the family lineage. Need an amendment here too.
- It does not promote the disintegration of biological families. Please explain.
- I don't want my child to ride a motorcycle. But he is young and impressionable, so rather than me talking to him about my concerns, let's pass an amendment against motorcycles and pretend they don't exist.
- Homosexuality does not create a shortened lifespan.
- The amendment is not outlawing only Christian church marriages - it is making civil secular marriage and unions impossible too. Since we don't live in a theocracy, the bible's view on the civil secular legal institution is moot.

[gesha]

02:39 PM on 05/08/2012

It's not a law based on lifestyle or judging choices. It's just saying that marriage is a union between man and woman, has always been and should remain. That doesn't mean discrimination. You can't re-write the bible to satisfy choices of others.