Tagged: Same-Sex Marriage

North Carolina voters have been asked to decide on a constitutional amendment to provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union recognized in the state. There's a lot of information and debate surrounding the ballot question and the implications of the amendment are fraught, but polls suggest many North Carolinians don't really know what it is or what it would do.

A proposed amendment to the North Carolina constitution would define marriage between one man and one woman as the only valid or recognized domestic legal union in the state. Opponents of the amendment claim its wording would put certain protections and benefits at risk for all unmarried couples and their children. Among them: child custody and visitation rights.

Opponents of a proposed amendment to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage and civil unions say the measure is written too broadly. Among the effects they claim it could have is the invalidation of domestic violence protections for unmarried couples. Amendment supporters call that a scare tactic.

Yesterday we heard from a volunteer who belongs to the main advocacy group working to pass a constitutional amendment barring gay marriage and civil unions on the May 8th ballot. Yesterday’s profile focused on one man’s belief that the state constitution should follow the Bible when it comes to same-sex marriage. Today’s profile features a middle-aged mother of two who says she opposes the measure because she understands how discrimination feels.

A few weeks from now, North Carolinians will go to the polls to decide whether to add an amendment to the state constitution defining marriage as between a man and a woman, and banning civil unions. State law already defines marriage as only between a man and a woman, but proponents of the measure called Amendment One, saying it would be an additional safeguard to protect traditional unions. In the first of a two-part series profiling volunteers for and against the amendment, Jessica Jones introduces us to one who's for it.

A proposed amendment to the North Carolina constitution banning gay marriage and civil unions is just two sentences. But opponents of the measure say if voters approve it on May 8th, protections and benefits for unmarried couples and their children could be jeopardized. As part of our series examining the arguments over Amendment One, Isaac-Davy Aronson looks at whether a few words could change so much.