Same-sex marriage in North Carolina

Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in North Carolina since October 10, 2014, when a U.S. District Court judge ruled in General Synod of the United Church of Christ v. Cooper that the state's denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples was unconstitutional. Governor Pat McCrory and Attorney General Roy Cooper had acknowledged that a recent ruling in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court's decision not to hear an appeal in that case established the unconstitutionality of North Carolina's ban on same-sex marriage. State legislators sought without success to intervene in lawsuits to defend the state's ban on same-sex marriage.

North Carolina had previously denied marriage rights to same-sex couples by statute since 1996. A state constitutional amendment that was approved in 2012 reinforced that by defining marriage between a man and a woman as the only valid "domestic legal union" in the state and denying recognition to any similar legal status, such as civil unions. The defunct amendment remains in the North Carolina Constitution. It can only be repealed with another amendment that must be passed by both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly with a three-fifths vote and receive approval by a majority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.[1] On July 12, 2017, same-sex marriage was codified in state statutes regarding statutory construction.

  1. ^ Leitsinger, Miranda (May 8, 2012). "Backers of North Carolina gay marriage ban: State no longer 'vulnerable'". NBC News.

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