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.
Comments
Re: Bill would allow mayors to officiate
May 14, 2009 - 8:35pm — tytillett"Polls show that 70% of North Carolinians support defining marriage as between a man and a woman."
I have no idea where you are getting your numbers from. Below is a link to an article showing that 50.4% of North Carolinians believe there should be no constitutional ban in our state on gay marriage. North Carolina is evolving out of being a red state and and slowly becoming more and more liberal. People in North Carolina are beginning to believe what our very own declaration of independence states, "that all men are created equal." It is time that North Carolina realizes that whether you are gay, straight, bi or whatever, you are a citizen of the United States and deserve the same rights that every other American has. It is about time for North Carolina to join the ranks of MA, CT, IA, ME, and VT and legalize gay marriage and give these individuals equal treatment under the law.
http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/4794291/
Re: Bill would allow mayors to officiate
May 14, 2009 - 12:16pm — JRS1988Why is it that the General Assembly does not want the gay marriage amendment put on the ballot in North Carolina? My cynical theory is that Democrats are afraid that if they put the amendment on the ballot in the 2010 midterm elections, conservatives will come out in force to vote for the amendment as well as vote for Republicans on the ballot. Polls show that 70% of North Carolinians support defining marriage as between a man and a woman. The Democrats are scared they will lose their stranglehold on state government. Let the people decide!