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.

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.

Sen. Jim Forrester doesn't use Facebook.

The Gaston County Republican was not aware that the popular online social networking site had several groups for and against his bill to ban gay marriage.

But he had suspected that people were coordinating their responses, since he has gotten clusters of e-mails with similar wording from opponents of the bill at times over the past few months.

"They come in waves," he told Dome. "It looks like somebody in a gay or lesbian group has contacted their members. The ones that are for the bill tend to come in separately."

Forrester does not even have a campaign Web site, but he applauded the efforts of North Carolinians to use the Internet to organize — even against his bill.

"This is a democracy," he said. "People are allowed to speak out for and against things they don't like. That's the way it should be."

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.

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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.

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Half of North Carolinians oppose a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

In a survey by the Elon University Poll, 50 percent of respondents said that they oppose adding a ban on same-sex marriage to the state constitution, while 43 percent supported it.

They did not support same-sex marriage, however.

On a separate question, 44 percent said they opposed any legal recognition for same-sex couples, 28 percent supported civil unions or partnerships that stop short of full marriage rights and 21 percent support full marriage rights.

"Given the contention in opinions across these hot-button issues, state legislators face some tough decisions in the coming months," said pollster Hunter Bacot.

Two bills that would put a ban up to a vote have been buried in committees in the state legislature by Democratic leaders.

The live poll of 620 North Carolina residents was conducted March 15-19 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

The Ways and Means Committee has neither ways nor means. Discuss.

As noted elsewhere, the state Senate committee's work belies its brash-sounding title, as it hasn't met since 2001.

That makes it a convenient place for Senate leader Marc Basnight to send bills to die.

Below, the bills sent there so far and what they would (have) do(ne):

S.B. 87: Taxpayers Protection Act: Put constitutional limits on state spending up for a referendum.

S.B. 108: Management of the Striped Bass Fishery: Authorize the Marine Fisheries Commission to create a tradeable quota on striped bass.

S.B. 118 and 119: Four-Year Terms: Lengthen state legislators' terms from two to four years.

S.B. 156: Session Limits: Limit legislature to 90 days in odd-numbered years, 45 in even-numbered.

S.B. 272: Defense of Marriage: Put a ban on gay marriage to the state constitution up for a referendum.

S.B. 329: Right to Hunt: Put a "right to hunt" amendment to the state constitution up for a referendum.

S.B. 351: No Felon as Sheriff: Put a constitutional ban on felons serving as sheriffs up for a referendum.

None of the bills are officially dead until crossover week, however. The committee is chaired by Sen. Charlie Dannelly, one of Basnight's top lieutenants, so a bill could conceivably be resurrected if he changed his mind. 

* Rep. Hugh Holliman expects his smoking ban bill to get its first hearing and healthy debate in the House Health Committee on Thursday.

* Republican legislators are urging their Democratic colleagues to back Gov. Beverly Perdue's request to take road projects from the Board of Transportation.

* Democratic leaders of the state House and Senate say that a bill to add a gay marriage ban to the constitution is going nowhere.

More Senate bills of note:

S.B. 266: No Sex Offenders on Juries, Sen. Tony Rand

S.B. 272: Defense of Marriage, Sen. James Forrester 

S.B. 290: No Federal Stimulus Money for Illegal Aliens, Sen. Forrester

S.B. 305: Incentives for Energy Conservation, Sen. Dan Clodfelter

S.B. 307: Regulate Ownership & Use of Certain Reptiles, Sen. Ed Jones

Advocates of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage are taking another swing at it.

Legislators, religious and conservative leaders Tuesday hailed the introduction of a bill in the Senate and one expected in the House that amends the state constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. Proponents emphasized that North Carolina remains the only southern state without such an amendment. Similar legislation has been introduced in previous years, but Democratic leaders did not permit a vote.

North Carolina has a law against gay marriage, but one liberal judge can knock it down, supporters of the proposed amendment said. They warned of unhealthy family environments, teaching children that homosexuality is correct, forcing changes in inheritance law and ending marriage as God intended.

"Moms and Dads are not interchangable," said Sen. Jim Forrester, a Gaston County Republican and chief sponsor of the Senate bill.

Opponents said gay couples deserve the same rights as heterosexuals and highlighted how many children are successfully raised by single parents, grandparents and other family constructs that do not include both a mother and father.

Gay couples "have the same values you and I do. They want to love somebody and be loved," said Ana McKee, of Durham, who has a 23-year-old gay son and is active in PFLAG, Parents and Family of Lesbians and Gays.