)
28.3
10.5.2011
NC Constitutional Amendment to Ban
Gay Marriage on the Ballot in May 2012
Amy Hruby, StaffWriter
image via wikipedia
On Monday September 12th, the
NC House voted 75-42 to let North
Carolina voters decide if a ban of
same-sex marriage should be written
into the state constitution. The bill
then passed 30-16 in the NC Sen
ate the following day. The proposed
amendment would add the following
language to Article XIV: “Marriage
between one man and one woman is
the only domestic legal union that
shall be valid or recognized in this
State. This section does not pro
hibit a private party from entering
into contracts with another private
party; nor does this section prohibit
courts from adjudicating the rights
of private parties pursuant to such
contracts.” This amendment will be
placed on the ballot in the May 2012
primary elections where voters will
be able to decide if they are for or
against a “constitutional amendment
to provide that marriage between
one man and one woman is the only
domestic legal union that shall be
valid or recognized in this State”
(the actual language that the bill
states will be put on tbe ballot).
The National Conference of State
Legislatures (ncsl.org) reports that
North Carolina is currently one of
thirty states with a statute in place
that defines marriage as between
one man and one woman. If this
amendment is passed, North Caro
lina could become the 31st state with
constitutional language defining
marriage (joining the other south
eastern states including Florida,
Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi,
Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee and
Virginia).
Since the House’s approval to send
the amendment to voters, there has
been ongoing debate about the issue.
Governor Perdue has declined pub
lic comment, but according to her
press secretary Chris Mackey she
was influential in having the vote
moved to the primary rather than
the general elections: “The Governor
didn’t want the General Assembly to
waste its time considering this un
necessary amendment at all. Moving
the amendment to the May ballot
removed ONE of the Governor’s ob
IN THIS ISSUE...
jections, which was that the Repub
licans were using the constitutional
amendment process to tilt the 2012
general election.” (WRAL, 9/21,
“Stam: Perdue behind ballot date”)
Other government officials have
been very vocal about the issue since
it was passed through the legisla
ture. CNN quotes Senate President
Pro Tern Phil Berger as saying, “We
think the people of this state - not
judges, bureaucrats, or politicians -
should define marriage, which I per
sonally believe should be between
one man and one woman. We look
forward to eight months of healthy
debate before voters decide this is
sue at the polls.” (CNN, 9/13, “NC
Senate approves...”) On September
21st, this healthy debate continued
as UNC Law School hosted a debate
between House Majority Leader Paul
Stam and Minority Whip Rick Gla
zier in which they argued the con
stitutionality and legal merits of the
proposed amendment. WRAL news
reports that Stam argued that “all
persons are created equal, but that
doesn’t mean three people can claim
to be married....The question is, if
there are going to be limits, what
are they.” Glazier countered this
argument by saying, “If we’re re
ally concerned about the protection
of marriage, maybe we ought to do
something about domestic violence
and child abuse and poverty because
I think they far more affect mar
riage than the gay couple down the
street.” (WRAL, 9/21, “Gay marriage
amendment debate continues”)
While arguing the legal dimen
sions of the proposed amendment
has been an important aspect of
this debate, others have focused on
the amendment’s individual impact
on North Carolina citizens. Sena
tor Josh Stein (who represented the
Meredith College’s NC Senate dis
trict [16]) voted against the amend
ment, and CNN reports that he
urged his fellow senators and voters
to know that “most of us have gay
neighbors, co-workers, friends and
family members....Know that if you
vote for this amendment, you will
cause them pain.” (CNN, 9/13, “NC
Senate approves...”)
Meredith students also have
strong feelings about the proposed
amendment. Current vice president
of Meredith’s chapter of Spectrum,
sophomore Ariel Nikas, says that she
thinks that “the politicians were al
locating time inefficiently when they
chose to write an amendment on
something already illegal in North
Carolina. There is currently no mar
riage equality here, without this
bill. I feel like it will alienate a large
group of people that make North
Carolina interesting and diverse.
The LGBT community members
here are citizens as well and they
deserve equal rights.” Sophomore
Michelle Maiden also shared in Ni
kas’ disapproval of the amendment:
“This amendment is a blatant act of
discrimination. I am ashamed that
not only do I live in a state that is
not open to gay marriage now, but a
state that is trying to close its doors
to the LGBT community forever. I
hope people in North Carolina real
ize the hardships they are putting
our friends and members of our
community through if they pass this
amendment.”
With the vote still seventh months
away there is plenty of time for
individuals to voice their opinions
in support of, against or indifferent
to the proposed amendment. If you
want to see your opinion in print,
send an editorial to the Herald: her-
ald@email.meredith.edu.
State & Local: Tyler Hadley Case, Fourth Annual Light the Night, Cherokee Nation v. Freedmen, Catina South
Arts & Entertainment: Toddlers and Tiaras, Rhymes in Time, Fall Fashion Preview
Campus Life: What Would Jesus Buy?, Meredith Pagent Contestant, Tsunami Event
Opinion: Love Triangle, Pole Dancing for Jesus