RFP Staff
♦ U.S. District Court Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr. in Asheville, N.C. ruled yesterday that the same-sex wedding ban, approved by North Carolina voters in 2012, is unconstitutional. Same sex marriages can begin throughout the state starting immediately even in Rowan County.
Cogburn’s ruling was preceded by a U.S. Supreme Court announcement on Monday that they would not hear any appeal of a July ruling by Richmond’s 4th Circuit Court of Appeals striking down Virginia’s ban. The 4th Circuit Court has jurisdiction over North Carolina.
Judge Cogburn wrote: “The court determines that North Carolina’s laws prohibiting same-sex marriage are unconstitutional as a matter of law. The issue before this court is neither a political issue nor a moral issue. It is a legal issue and it is clear as a matter of what is now settled law in the Fourth Circuit that North Carolina laws prohibiting same sex marriage, refusing to recognize same sex marriages originating elsewhere, and/or threatening to penalize those who would solemnize such marriages, are unconstitutional.”
North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said through a spokesperson that the Asheville judge’s order applies statewide in North Carolina.
Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, executive director of the Campaign for Southern Equality, was quoted yesterday: “LGBT families in North Carolina will now be treated as equal under the law in North Carolina — a day that so many have fought so hard for. We celebrate knowing that this shameful chapter in North Carolina’s history has passed. At the same time we know that you can still be fired simply for being gay in North Carolina. Protection from discrimination in the workplace is the next step in our push for full equality.”
Steve Mensing, wrote yesterday from Madison, Wisconsin: “Persons who believe in religious freedom and tolerance of others will abide by this ruling. I’ve lived in Philadelphia and now in Madison, Wisconsin. Gay people are a fact of everyday life and the people in both cities largely accept and welcome the differences in sexual orientation now. Such was not the case in 50’s Philadelphia where the police once raided gay coffee houses and non acceptance was the order of the day. Over several decades Gay folks gradually became far more accepted in Philadelphia. I suspect that even in the Rowan County, with its strong fundamentalism, Gay folks will one day find a better fit.”
