North Carolina Family Policy Council
According to a December 2010 poll by the John W. Pope Civitas Institute, nearly two-thirds of North Carolinians favor including the definition of marriage in the State Constitution. The John W. Pope Civitas Institute asked North Carolinians whether they “favor or oppose an amendment to the North Carolina constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman.” While 65 percent of respondents indicated support for such an amendment (with 58 percent strongly favoring the amendment), 32 percent of respondents indicated opposition.
Pro-marriage advocates anticipate that the newly-elected General Assembly will pass a bill to put a Marriage Protection Amendment on the 2012 ballot during its 2011-2012 legislative session, which begins January 26. Similar bills have been filed for seven years without receiving a vote in either the House or Senate.
“A large majority of North Carolinians continue to support protecting the definition of marriage in our state,” said Bill Brooks, president of the North Carolina Family Policy Council. “We are hopeful that new leadership in the legislature will finally lead to some action to give voters an opportunity to consider a Marriage Protection Amendment. Our citizens should have the opportunity to join the 30 other states, and all of the Southern states, in placing the definition of marriage in the Constitution where it is safe from redefinition by the legislature and the courts.”
This story was used with permission of the North Carolina Family Policy Council