Three Republican lawmakers in North Carolina filed a bill Tuesday that would ban gay marriage ceremonies and prohibit the state from recognizing same-sex marriage or civil unions, according to a local Raleigh report.
The “Uphold Historical Marriage Act,” or HB 780, states that the 2015 Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage “not only exceeds the authority of the Court relative to the State of North Carolina… but also exceeds the authority of the Court relative to the decree of Almighty God.”
North Carolina Reps. Larry Pittman (R-Kinston), Michael Speciale (R-Craven), and Carl Ford (R-Rowan) are the primary sponsors of the bill, which also directly cites the book of Genesis, stating that legalizing gay marriage threatens the biblical ideal that “man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
HB 780 isn’t the state’s first proposed amendment that would delegitimize gay marriage. In May 2012, justices struck down Amendment One in North Carolina’s state constitution, which prohibited North Carolina from recognizing or performing same-sex marriages within state bounds. More than 60 percent of voters who cast a ballot in 2012 voted for Amendment One.
If passed, the bill will prohibit gay marriage in all capacities across the state.
H/T WNCN
