North Carolina to Ban Same-Sex Marriage

The U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage across the U.S. on June 26, 2015.  Justice Anthony Kennedy was quoted on CNN.com, “Their (same-sex couples) hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”

However, North Carolina has created a new bill that could revoke this right. Republican’s sponsored the bill, titled the Uphold Historical Marriage Act, because Republicans think the same-sex marriage law oversteps constitutional boundaries. With this law, all same-sex marriages, even those not performed in North Carolina, would be null and void upon entering the state. According to NBC News, this law outlines that it will “enforce Section 6 of Article XIV of the North Carolina Constitution,” which states that marriage between a man and a woman will be the only legal union that is valid in North Carolina.

NBC News quotes Republican Deb Butler, who is an LGBTQ+ friendly lawmaker in North Carolina, as calling this bill “despicable.” Butler commented that she does not think this bill will make its way out of the legislature, but if for some reason it does, says that the courts will not support it.

Days after Republicans proposed this bill, it was shut down. It is unknown if North Carolina will try to bring this bill back again at a later time or if the state will let it go. For now, same-sex marriages will continue to be legal in all 50 states.