Published on May 8th, 2012 | by Kim LaCapria
0North Carolina Gay Marriage Ban Passes With Wide Margin
If you thought America was making leaps and bounds when it comes to gay rights, just look at what happened in North Carolina tonight for a sobering reminder of how far we have yet to go when it comes to same sex marriage and equality.
North Carolina’s Amendment One has been a hot topic of debate on social media after all the state’s republican lawmakers voted to amend the state constitution to define marriage as solely between one man and one woman. Ten democrats crossed the aisle to vote in favor of the amendment as well, passing the provision that not only outlaws same sex marriage but civil unions.
Amendment One has been criticized not only for its harm to same-sex families, but also for the detriment to single parent families. Paul Guequierre is the spokesperson for the Coalition to Protect NC Families, the opposition to the controversial legislation passed this evening. Guequierre commented:
“The coalition did what they could to reach out to everyday North Carolinian… This campaign was about a lot of things, and there’s no question that LGBT rights were an issue, but I think there were other issues that were important to address as well.”
North Carolina’s constitution could be amended as early as next week to codify the same-sex marriage and civil union ban into law.