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U.S. Reps. Virginia Foxx, Walter Jones and Patrick McHenry joined 36 other Republicans in filing a friend-of-the-court brief in a same-sex marriage lawsuit in the District of Columbia.

The brief argues for holding a referendum on whether the District should allow same-sex marriage, Barb Barrett reports.

The city elections board recently declared that under D.C.’s anti-discrimination law, such a referendum would be illegal because it discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation.

A local church leader, Bishop Harry Jackson, pastor of Hope Christian Church, has filed suit in D.C. Superior Court to force the public referendum, and the Republicans’ amicus brief sides with Jackson.

A bill would allow mayors to officiate at weddings.

Senate Bill 992 was sponsored by freshman Democratic Sen. Don Davis, the former mayor of Snow Hill, N.C.

The Senate had little debate on the issue, though Sen. Jim Forrester said that he had hoped to add an amendment that would have put a constitutional ban on gay marriage up for a statewide referendum.

Forrester filed a separate bill on the gay-marriage ban that Senate leadership essentially killed by leaving it in committee.

"If we don't get it in the constitution, I'm afraid it's going to happen to us just like Vermont," he said.

The bill passed 35-9 and now heads to the House.

Several other bills this session have also sought to expand who can perform weddings. One already signed into law by Gov. Beverly Perdue, allows Superior Court judges to officiate.

Another bill stuck in a House committee would have allowed any judge, while a third would allow retired judges. A Senate bill to allow any judge passed and is now before a House committee.

Could a bill banning bullying against gays and lesbians lead to same-sex marriage?

Yes, according to two N.C. Roman Catholic bishops who have urged their followers in two mass emails this past week to oppose Senate Bill 526, otherwise known as the School Violence Protection Act, Yonat Shimron reports.

While the two bishops say they oppose bullying period, they cannot support a bill that singles out "gender identity and sexual orientation."

Msgr. Michael Clay, the legislative lobbyist for the Diocese of Raleigh, said three states — Iowa, California and Connecticut — have used similar anti-gay bullying laws as part of their "findings of fact," in building a case for same-sex marriage.

"It could be a precursor of actions by our legislature and/or our courts to mandate same-sex marriage," said Clay. "It's more than speculative. This is a result that happens."

Clay said both Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Raleigh and Bishop Peter J. Jugis of Charlotte believe bullying is wrong and would gladly support a bill without the offending language.

"We're urging people to support the bill and take out the differentiating language," he said.

Other groups, including the Christian Action League and the N.C. Family Policy Council, also oppose the bill, saying it would introduce special legal protections for gays and lesbians.

Update: But not all religious groups agreed with what they said was an exaggerated emphasis on same-sex marriage.

"This is not a theoretical political issue," said the Rev. Jack McKinney, co-pastor of Pullen Memorial Baptist Church. "This is about real kids suffering real pain and too many of them hurting themselves. For it to be used as a political football is a tragedy."

The largest gay rights rally in state history was organized on Facebook.

Will Elliott, a 35-year-old Durham resident, was upset about the passage of a California initiative banning gay marriage last November.

He contacted a national group planning protests about holding something in Raleigh, but when no one got back to him after a few days, he went online.

Late on a Sunday, Elliott invited about 50 friends to a Facebook Events page, then was stunned when more than 300 said they would come by mid-week.

"We kept having to call the state back to update our application" for a permit, he said.

On the day of the rally, more than 1,400 showed up despite driving rain. Elliott is now planning a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots through his Facebook group, NC against H8.

He said his group is a counterpart to the more staid Equality North Carolina.

"The civil rights movement of the '60s and '70s didn't just have the NAACP," he said.

Do you want to "friend" a bill in the General Assembly?

You can't exactly do that, but you can join a group for or against a piece of state legislation, another step in the evolution of online politics.

Here's a running list of Facebook groups on state bills:

* Support NC House bill 223, ditch the graduation project: Supports this bill to end the high school graduation project. 8,257 members.

* I Oppose NC Senate Bill 272: Opposes this bill for a referendum to ban gay marriage in the state constitution. 6,635 members.

* North Carolina State Sovereignty Movement: Supports this resolution to declare North Carolina a sovereign state under the 10th Amendment. 849 members.

* Ban Smoking in N.C.'s Public Places: 717 members. I'M FOR A SMOKE-FREE NORTH CAROLINA: 107 members. NC FOR Smoking Ban in Resturants (sic) and Bars: 92 members. All support this smoking ban bill.

* I support NC Senate Bill 272: 703 members. I support NC Senate Bill 272 - Defense of Marriage: 64 members. Say yes to NC Senate Bill 272: Defense of Marriage: 5 members. All support gay marriage ban referendum.

* Davie's Law / Humane Euthanasia in NC Shelters: Supports this bill to end gas chambers at state animal shelters. 577 members.

* Support Sunday ABC Sales in NC! Supports this bill to end prohibition on Sunday sales of liquor. 491 members.

* Prevent School Violence North Carolina: Supports this bill to reduce bullying in school. 461 members.

* Oppose the NC Smoking Ban: Opposes the smoking ban. 121 members.

* Pass the NC Racial Justice Act: Supports this bill to allow courts to review death sentences for racial bias. 100 members.

* NC Citizens Against Anti-Competition Bills HB1252 and S1004: Opposes bills that would prevent municipal Internet providers. 49 members.

* I oppose NC Senate Bill 138 (Salvia Ban): Opposes this bill to make a hallucinogenic mint a Schedule I drug. 49 members.

Are we missing one? E-mail dome@newsobserver.com.

Garrett Kimball started by inviting his friends.

The UNC-Chapel Hill sophomore began the "I Oppose NC Senate Bill 272" Facebook group by sending invitations to his 500 online friends and accquaintances.

Then, he asked friends who are at other North Carolina colleges — including N.C. State, Duke and Campbell — to be administrators, giving them the authority to invite more people and help run the group.

That helped it grow to 6,642 members — more than 10 times the number in a group supporting the bill.

Kimball said that he's been to a few protests over the years, but he's not usually an active political organizer.

"I guess if it riles me up enough, I get active," he said.

More after the jump.

One afternoon in February, Miranda Langston was checking her Facebook page.

She saw that another friend of hers had joined a group supporting gay rights.

Langston, a junior at Campbell University, decided that there weren't enough Facebook groups representing her point of view.

So she started "I support NC Senate Bill 272" to promote legislation that would call for a referendum on adding a same-sex marriage ban to the state constitution.

Langston e-mailed a few of her friends and encouraged them to invite their friends. Before long, the group had about 700 members.

That's about a tenth of the number who joined a group in opposition to the same bill, a difference that Langston attributes to political correctness.

"A lot of people are scared to say they oppose same-sex marriage because they have gay friends or gay family members," she said. "It's not popular to go against the norm." 

Langston has faced some criticism since starting the group.

More after the jump.

A bill to gender neutralize state laws would not undo the state's ban on gay marriage, according to its author and the director of legislative bill drafting.

Sen. Richard Stevens, a Cary Republican, said his bill will not affect the substance of any law. The legislation directs the revisor of statutes, a state official who makes technical adjustments in the law, to make all references to individuals gender neutral.

"It's where the governor is referred to as 'he,'" Stevens said, "or the chairman of the council is referred to as 'he'."

The state law banning gay marriage doesn't mention 'he' or 'she.' It says marriages "between individuals of the same gender" are not valid.

"You can't make gender neutral a statute specifically calling on the state to discriminate based on gender," said Gerry Cohen, the bill drafting director.

The bill passed a Senate judiciary committee, but Stevens asked that it be parked until bill drafting staff and the attorney general's office work out the language to ensure it does not affect the substance of any law.

Who polled for the N.C. Family Policy Council?

The conservative advocacy group today announced the results of a recent poll on gay marriage done by Advantage Inc.

The Arlington, Va.-based company has been described by the Washington Post as a "national political, fundraising and direct-marketing firm" that works for Republicans.

Its Web site describes its specialties as get-out-the-vote efforts, online town halls, automated messaging and survey research.

The Family Policy Council of West Virginia released the results of a similar poll on gay marriage in October.

A company spokesman would not give further information about the poll, citing a policy against discussing any work done for clients.

Another poll on gay marriage found high levels of opposition.

A poll by the N.C. Family Policy Council, a socially conservative advocacy group, found that 73 percent of those surveyed supported adding a ban on gay marriage to the state constitution.

Seventeen percent opposed the amendment and 10 percent were undecided.

"We commissioned this survey, first of all, because we wanted to determine the level of support for the Marriage Protection Amendment among registered voters in North Carolina," said council president Bill Brooks in a statement.

The results are in line with previous polls, which have found high levels of support when the question asks about adding a definition of marriage to the constitution, but more of a split when the wording notes this would outlaw same-sex marriage.

The Family Policy Council had questioned a recent survey by the Elon University Poll that used the more results-oriented wording.

The live survey of 5,009 registered voters was conducted on Feb. 26, 2009, by Advantage Inc. of Arlington, Va. The margin of error was not released.

After the jump, the questions.