North Carolina Speaker shoots down bill to re-ban same-sex marriage
The Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representative has shot down a GOP proposal that would reinstate a ban on same-sex marriage.
Two Republican lawmakers in the state this week filed House Bill 780, which asserts that the US Supreme Court ruling that brought about same-sex marriage across the country is not valid in North Carolina.
The bill effectively declares that a 2012 state constitutional amendment which banned same-sex marriage would remain in effect, asserting that the federal government does not have the legal power to regulate marriage.
The legislation would put the state on a collision course with the US Supreme Court – and the state’s Governor and Speaker have both shut it down.
Republican House Speaker Tim Moore tossed the bill out of the House, citing “constitutional concerns”.
He said: “There are strong constitutional concerns with this legislation given that the U.S. Supreme Court has firmly ruled on the issue, therefore House Bill 780 will be referred to the House Rules Committee and will not be heard.”
The state branch of the ACLU’s policy director Sarah Gillooly said: “This bill is absurd, unconstitutional and further proof that some North Carolina legislators remain committed to discriminating against LGBT people and their families.”
“North Carolina lawmakers cannot defy the U.S. Supreme Court based on their extreme personal views.”
The state’s Democratic Governor Roy Cooper wrote: “This bill is wrong. We need more LGBT protections, not fewer.”
Discrimination protections for LGBT people are actually outlawed in the state until 2020, thanks to Cooper, who signed a ‘compromise’ deal with Republicans to repeal aspects of the hated anti-trans bathroom law HB2.
Equality NC executive director Chris Sgro said it was a “fake repeal,” while Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin called the law a “disaster” which “doubles down on discrimination”.
