Same-sex marriage in North Carolina
It can only be repealed with another amendment that must be passed by both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly with a three-fifths vote and receive approval by a majority of voters in a referendum.
On September 12, 2011, Senate Bill 514, a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage and any "domestic legal union", passed the House by a vote of 75–42.
[13] The amendment added to Section XIV of the Constitution of North Carolina: Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State.
[17] On June 13, 2012, six same-sex couples filed a federal lawsuit, Fisher-Borne v. Smith, that initially sought the right to obtain stepchild adoptions.
[19] Three same-sex couples filed Gerber v. Cooper in federal court in April 2014 seeking North Carolina's recognition of their marriages, which were established in other jurisdictions.
[20] On July 28, after the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling in Bostic, the North Carolina Attorney General, Roy Cooper, had announced that he would no longer defend the state's ban on same-sex marriage.
He said that because all judges in North Carolina were bound by the Fourth Circuit's precedent, "today we know our law will almost surely be overturned as well.
Simply put, it's time to stop making arguments we will lose and instead move forward knowing the ultimate resolution will likely come from the United States Supreme Court.
[23] On October 9, two leaders of the North Carolina General Assembly, Thom Tillis, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Phil Berger, the President pro tempore of the Senate, asked to be allowed to intervene to defend the state's ban.
[28] The Supreme Court ruled on June 26, 2015, that state same-sex marriage bans violate the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Catholic Church, along with many other Christian and religious traditions, will continue our work with regard to this true definition of marriage and to strengthen the moral basis for all such relationships."
The ACLU issued the following statement, "The Supreme Court today welcomed same-sex couples fully into the American family.
Gay and lesbian couples and our families may be at peace knowing that our simple request to be treated like everyone else – that is, to be able to participate in the dignity of marriage – has finally been granted.
Today's historic victory comes on the backs of same-sex couples and advocates who have worked for decades to dismantle harmful stereotypes and unjust laws in the quest for equal treatment."
David Price, representing North Carolina's 4th congressional district, said, "I join many of my constituents, some of whom have been waiting for this moment for a long time, in celebrating today's Supreme Court decision, which continues the remarkable progress we have made as a country toward equal rights for all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
"[29] On April 28, 2014, the United Church of Christ, joined by a coalition of Baptists, Lutherans, and Unitarian Universalists, filed a lawsuit,[30] arguing that North Carolina's statute that made it a crime to preside at the solemnization of the marriage of a couple that lacked a valid state marriage license unconstitutionally restricted religious freedom.
[33] Dr. Reverend Nancy Petty of the Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, a plaintiff in the case, said, "By preventing our same-sex congregants from forming their own families, the North Carolina ban on same-sex marriage burdens my ability and the ability of my congregation to form a faith community of our choosing consistent with the principles of our faith."
Reverend Nancy Allison, a pastor of the Holy Covenant United Church of Christ and another plaintiff, said, "North Carolina judges some of its citizens as unfit for the blessings of God.
With it, we celebrate with so many North Carolinians who have worked tirelessly over decades to change hearts, minds, and unequal laws in the state we call home.
In Raleigh, Asheville and Greensboro, county offices stayed open late to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
[43] On May 7, 2019, SB 595, a bill to codify property laws such as tenancy by the entirety, on the recommendations of the North Carolina Bar Association, was introduced to the General Assembly.
[44] On May 5, 2023, SB 112, a bill to make technical corrections to the statutes concerning alimony and distribution of marital and divisible property in divorce proceedings, replacing the term "husband or wife" with "one or both spouses", passed the Senate by a vote of 50–0.
[48] On June 28, 2017, a three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit, composed of J. Harvie Wilkinson III, Barbara Milano Keenan and Stephanie Thacker, dismissed the lawsuit because the couples who brought the suit lacked standing as none of them had been turned down by a state magistrate.
It also quoted the Bible, saying "the ruling exceeds the authority of the court relative to the decree of Almighty God that a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh".
"[56] While there are no records of same-sex marriages as understood from a Western perspective being performed in Native American cultures, there is evidence for identities and behaviours that may be placed on the LGBT spectrum.
Many of these cultures recognised two-spirit individuals who were born male but wore women's clothing and performed everyday household work and artistic handiwork which were regarded as belonging to the feminine sphere.
[10][62] In 2008, the General Assembly added a provision to state law, affording hospital visitation rights to same-sex couples though a designated visitor statute.
[64] Chapel Hill followed suit in 1995, allowing for the registration of domestic partnerships between any two adults who live together in a long-term relationship of indefinite duration,[65] with an exclusive mutual commitment in which the partners share the necessities of life and are financially interdependent, and also are not married to anyone else, do not have another domestic partner and not related by blood more closely than would bar their marriage in the state.
[73] The approved plan defines "domestic partners" as two people of the same sex in a "spousal like" and "exclusive, mutually committed" relationship in which both "share the necessities of life and are financially interdependent".
[74] On February 22, 2011, Asheville authorized the creation of a domestic partnership registry to recognize same-sex relationships, becoming the first city in Western North Carolina to do so.
