James Summers Forrester (January 8, 1937 – October 31, 2011) was a Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state's forty-first senate district, including constituents in the Iredell, Gaston and Lincoln counties.
Forrester also served in the North Carolina Air National Guard, and participated in the Vietnam War as a flight physician.
[citation needed] Forrester also ran a private practice for family medicine in Gaston County, North Carolina.
He gained notoriety when he became the chief sponsor of Senate Bill 514 which would amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriages in North Carolina in 2011.
After the Republicans won control of the General Assembly, Forrester's amendment eventually passed both houses.