Tagged: Same-Sex Marriage

 New census data shows the number of same-sex couples in North Carolina has more than doubled in the past 10 years.

Attendees of this weekend's NC Pride parade and festival will have a lot on their minds, including North Carolina's proposed same-sex marriage amendment and the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The event has grown steadily since its beginning in 1981, and now represents one of the best opportunities for North Carolina's LGBT communities to get together for celebration and contemplation. Host Frank Stasio talks about some of the issues facing gays and lesbians today with Steven Petrow, author of the book, "Complete Gay & Lesbian Manners: The Definitive Guide to LGBT Life" (Workman Publishing Company/2011); Pam Spaulding, editor and publisher of the LGBT advocacy blog, “Pam’s House Blend”; Reverend Brett Webb-Mitchell, a former pastor and visiting faculty at North Carolina Central University; and Randy Jones, the cowboy from Village People and the keynote speaker at this weekend's NC Pride parade and festival.

Voters in North Carolina will decide next May whether to add an amendment to the state constitution that would ban gay marriage. Earlier today, the state Senate voted with a three-fifths majority in favor of a proposed amendment that recognizes marriage as being between one man and one woman. The House passed the measure yesterday. Republican Senator Buck Newton says adding such an amendment to the state constitution would make it more difficult for judges to overturn bans on same-sex marriage.

North Carolina voters will be asked to consider same-sex marriage in the next primary election. A bill that allows people to decide at the polls whether to ban gay marriage in the state constitution passed the Senate today and was approved in the House yesterday. WRAL Capitol Bureau Chief Laura Leslie joins host Frank Stasio to talk about the language of this legislation and how it was debated in the General Assembly.

Lawmakers in the North Carolina House have passed a bill to let voters decide whether to add an amendment to the state constitution that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. 75 legislators voted in favor of the bill, after three and a half hours of debate.