The North Carolina House right now is debating a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. If passed, it would be another step on the path to having voters decide to enshrine discrimination into their constitution.
Via CNN:
A House Committee met early Monday afternoon to discuss the measure, and it passed by a voice vote, sending it to the House floor for a vote. Three-fifths of the House members would have to vote yes two times before it can be considered by the Senate.
If the measure does pass in the entire Legislature and is eventually approved by voters during the primary in May, North Carolina would become the final state in the Southeast to add a constitutional amendment regarding same-sex marriage. Proponents of the bill said they felt it was important that the amendment be added so that it would protect the state’s policy on gay marriage. North Carolina currently has a ban on same-sex marriage, but legislators are seeking to protect that ban by chiseling it into their constitution.
During debate on the House floor, Rep. Susan Fisher, a Democrat from Asheville, North Carolina, questioned why legislators were asking for such swift movement on the issue.
“I think it’s somewhat ironic that we would be asked to debate or have this bill in front of us for immediate consideration,” she said. “I don’t think you ever consider an amendment to the state constitution immediately, yet here we are.”
Fisher was referring to complaints by Democrats that the amendment needed to be considered more carefully before it was voted upon. Many Democrats argued that Republicans, who are in the majority in the Legislature for the first time in 140 years, were trying to push the amendment through quickly without allowing for a real debate or public comment. Republicans argued that the content of the proposed amendment has long been known, even if the specific wording was not.
Pam Spaulding has a lot more, starting here.
Â
http://wwwcache.wral.com/presentation/v2/flash/video/vp-wral.swf?v=20100913a