Asheville City Council member Gordon Smith speaks to the crowd at a Vigil for Equality in September.
Voters will decide whether gay and lesbian North Carolinians deserve marriage equality. The North Carolina state Senate voted to put a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage on the ballot in May 2012.
The vote capped 90 minutes of discussion, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger said there’d be more to come: “We look forward to eight months of healthy debate before voters decide this issue at the polls.”
The state House voted for the measure by a 75-42 vote Monday. North Carolina is the only state in the Southeast without such a provision. State lawmakers passed the constitutional amendment in September.
Photo: mountain.com
