Equality in North Carolina was up for grabs on Monday, but in the end, the state House of Representatives approved legislation to put a constitutional ban of gay marriage on the ballot in May 2012. Without allowing any input from the public, the chamber passed the amendment by a 75-42 vote, which included eight Democrats voting for the measure. It now heads to the GOP-controlled state Senate.
The HRC and Equality NC had planned to deliver 45,000 N.C. voter-signed postcards and a letter from 500 clergy to the state’s capitol.
The state statute bars same-sex unions. However, North Carolina remains the only southern state without a constitutional amendment, according to wnep.com.
State rep. Dale Folwell, R-Winston-Salem, the bill’s co-sponsor, said the legislation would end debate on gay marriage.
“Every year people campaign about this issue. It’s time that we settle it,” Folwell said in wnep.com’s story.
Ellen Greaves, a lawyer and Equality NC PAC board member, said the proposed amendment “would write discrimination into the constitution.”
“This proposed constitutional amendment runs against the tide of history, and has become a form of hate speech,” House Minority Leader Joe Hackney, D-Chapel Hill, said in a statement. “Modern corporations do not tolerate this kind of discrimination and neither should our state.”
In addition to mailing campaigns, eight candlelight vigils were planned for Monday night.
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A rally outside the Legislative Building is expected to take place Tuesday.
According to Huffington Post, a recent poll conducted by Public Policy Polling found a majority of North Carolinians oppose the constitutional amendment.
