Scroll To Top
Marriage Equality

N.C. Lawmakers Seek to Nullify Marriage Equality

North Carolina

The bill quotes the Christian Bible and says the Supreme Court defied "Almighty God."

trudestress

Less than two weeks after the partial repeal of the infamous House Bill 2, conservative North Carolina legislators have introduced another virulently anti-LGBT measure -- directing the state government to ignore the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality.

House Bill 780, filed today, would declare that the ruling "is null and void in the State of North Carolina," reports The News & Observer of Raleigh. It likely has little chance of passage; it is sponsored by four of the House's most conservative Republican members, whose bills often don't get a hearing because the leadership opposes them, the paper notes.

Titled the Uphold Historical Marriage Act and quoting the Christian Bible, the bill says the high court's 2015 decision "exceeds the authority of the court relative to the decree of Almighty God that 'a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh' (Genesis 2:24, ESV) and abrogates the clear meaning and understanding of marriage in all societies throughout prior history."

It would restore Amendment One, the state constitutional amendment struck down, along with other states' bans on same-sex marriage, in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Its sponsors are Reps. Larry Pittman, Michael Speciale, Carl Ford, and Mike Clampitt.

Some other states have sought to evade the ruling, without success. A bill called the Natural Marriage Defense Act has been reintroduced in Tennessee this year after being killed in a subcommittee in the previous legislative session. And in Alabama, Chief Justice Roy Moore urged county probate judges, who are in charge of marriage licenses, to defy the ruling; he has now been suspended for the remainder of his term. He is appealing the suspension.

(RELATED: Bigoted Christians Are the Most Special Snowflakes)

trudestress
Advocate Channel - The Pride StoreOut / Advocate Magazine - Fellow Travelers & Jamie Lee Curtis

From our Sponsors

Most Popular

Latest Stories

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.