http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... U16pkewnRF
The North Carolina House has voted to place a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage on the May primary ballot, according to news reports out of Raleigh.
The Republican-dominated chamber approved the amendment, 76-42. It required a three-fifths majority -- 72 votes -- to pass.
The measure needs similar Senate approval, but the GOP-dominated chamber has already agreed on the language:
"Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state. This section does not prohibit a private party from entering into contracts with another private party; nor does this section prohibit courts from adjudicating the rights of private parties pursuant to such contracts."
The Raleigh News & Observer explains that the wording "is crafted to ease concerns that the amendment would prohibit businesses from offering benefits to domestic partners," although public employees in some cities and counties could lose those benefits if voters approve the ban.
North Carolina's constitution is the only one among Southeast states without such a prohibition.
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**The above is another hint and piece of evidence that the term "marriage" as a state created entity as a term itself is becoming less and less the proper term to describe the covenant union status of a man and his woman and a woman and her man. But the good news is that the state here looks like it too will recognize private unions which is really what took place in the biblical era anyway though it is improperly translated today with the public legal term known as marriage.
The North Carolina House has voted to place a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage on the May primary ballot, according to news reports out of Raleigh.
The Republican-dominated chamber approved the amendment, 76-42. It required a three-fifths majority -- 72 votes -- to pass.
The measure needs similar Senate approval, but the GOP-dominated chamber has already agreed on the language:
"Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state. This section does not prohibit a private party from entering into contracts with another private party; nor does this section prohibit courts from adjudicating the rights of private parties pursuant to such contracts."
The Raleigh News & Observer explains that the wording "is crafted to ease concerns that the amendment would prohibit businesses from offering benefits to domestic partners," although public employees in some cities and counties could lose those benefits if voters approve the ban.
North Carolina's constitution is the only one among Southeast states without such a prohibition.
__________________________________________________
**The above is another hint and piece of evidence that the term "marriage" as a state created entity as a term itself is becoming less and less the proper term to describe the covenant union status of a man and his woman and a woman and her man. But the good news is that the state here looks like it too will recognize private unions which is really what took place in the biblical era anyway though it is improperly translated today with the public legal term known as marriage.