Just so you know that I am not ignorant.
Amendment One states " 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 definition of marriage in federal law is the "[l]egal union of one man and one woman as husband and wife." Blacks Law Dictionary 876 (5th edition 1979). The word "domestic" was added to the words "legal union" to clarify that other legal arrangements, such as business partnerships, would not be affected.
Legally recognizing only heterosexual marriage isn't discrimination against homosexuals wanting to marry. Marriage between a man and a woman has existed in virtually every known society. It has served the purpose of channeling procreative sexual activity into an institution that will provide a stable environment for children produced from the sexual union of the partners in marriage. Same sex marriage is an entirely different relationship with an entirely different purpose. Expanding the marital institution to other relationships which serve completely different purposes ultimately undermines the institution which has proven to be the best and safest environment for children.
The amendment will not nullify medical powers of attorney, wills, and trusts if the parties are homosexual partners.
Under G.S. 32A-18 "any competent person who is not engaged in providing health care to the principal for renumeration, and who is 18 years of age or older, may act as a health care agent." The relationship between the patient and the designated agent does not matter. The amendment explicitly states that it will not affect the rights of parties to enter into private contractual agreements.
The marriage amendment will not determine the custody and visitation rights of unmarried parents unless their behavior affects the child. Custody orders are based on the "parent"/child relationship, not on the domestic relationship between the "parents". Courts have based custody and visitation on the "best interest of the child". NCGS 50-13.2(2007) The sexual behavior of the party petitioning for custody or visitation is not determinative except as it affects the child. The "de facto parenting doctrine" was applied in 2010 in Boseman v. Jarrell. The Supreme Court refused to allow adoption to an unmarried same sex partner but did award joint custody and visitation rights to that non-biological same sex partner who had become a de facto parent to the child.
The marriage amendment will not affect domestic violence laws. Opponents would have you thing that the amendment obliterates our domestic violence law. The cases they use as authority are Ohio appellate cases later overturned by the Ohio Supreme Court which found the domestic violence statuses consistent with the state's marriage amendment. In Kansas the outcome was the same. Marriage amendments have had no effect on the enforcement of domestic violence statutes. 30 other states have marriage amendments. In all 30 states domestic violence laws continue to be enforced. I have read and reread the North Carolina domestic violence statutes. I am unable to even comprehend the logic of this objection.
The truth is, there is a real threat to the institution of marriage.
In several states same sex marriage has been imposed upon the people by courts that have engaged in tortured judicial reasoning - Massachusetts and Iowa for example. These courts have used the state constitutions to reverse the very pro marriage policies that were in effect when the state constitution was adopted.
Now it has come to North Carolina. Same sex couples in Asheville went to the courthouse for two weeks last fall seeking to obtain marriage licenses. A lawsuit was filed by the Register of Deeds of Guilford County in December challenging our state's marriage laws and asking the court to declare them unconstitutional because they don't allow same sex partners to "marry".
This marriage amendment will ensure that marriage between one man and one woman will be protected from result-oriented judges.
