North Carolina Republicans Try ‘Half-Baked’ Attempt to Ban Same-Sex Marriage

Teddy Wilson

"This bill is absurd, unconstitutional, and further proof that some North Carolina legislators remain committed to discriminating against LGBT people and their families," said Sarah Gillooly, policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina.

HB 780, sponsored by Rep. Larry Pittman (R-Cabarrus), states that the 2015 Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges is “null and void in the State of North Carolina,” and that the state will “uphold and enforce Section 6 of Article XIV” of the North Carolina constitution. Max Whittaker/Getty Images

North Carolina GOP lawmakers introduced a bill Tuesday that would re-establish the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, defying the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage.

Gov. Roy Cooper (D) called the bill “wrong” in a Twitter post. “We need more LGBT protections, not fewer,” Cooper wrote.

Sarah Gillooly, policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, told WRAL that the bill is a “half-baked” legal theory. “This bill is absurd, unconstitutional, and further proof that some North Carolina legislators remain committed to discriminating against LGBT people and their families,” Gillooly said.

HB 780, sponsored by Rep. Larry Pittman (R-Cabarrus), states that the 2015 Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges is “null and void in the State of North Carolina,” and that the state will “uphold and enforce Section 6 of Article XIV” of the North Carolina constitution.

North Carolina voters in 2012 approved a ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage in the state by amending the state constitution.

The so-called “Uphold Historical Marriage Act” quotes from the Bible and declares that the Supreme Court exceeded its authority “relative to the decree of Almighty God,” and “abrogates the clear meaning and understanding of marriage in all societies throughout prior history.”

Pittman, a pastor at Ridgecrest Presbyterian Church in Stanly County, has not yet made a public comment on the legislation. Pittman was a co-sponsor of the anti-transgender HB 2, and has sponsored or co-sponsored an assortment of anti-choice and anti-LGBTQ legislation.

The bill has already been the subject of nationwide ridicule, as the state has continued to be at the center of legislative battles being waged by hard line Republican lawmakers.

Ames Simmons, director of transgender policy at Equality North Carolina, told WCNC that he thinks the bill is meant to be symbolic. “Ideally the people who make laws would be helping to make the situation around discrimination better instead of perpetuating it,” Simmons said.