North Carolina passes Amendment 1 banning same-sex unions

North Carolina voters approved a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union only between a man and a woman, a defeat for supporters of gay rights.

It has become the 30th state in the union to perpetuate the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in his country. Same-sex marriage is illegal in NC for 16 years but can now only be legalized by a popular vote.

With more than 97% of the area around the report Tuesday night, again unofficially showed the amendment passing 61% support and 39% against. The amendment states that "marriage between a man and a woman is a combination of domestic law only applicable or recognized in this country".

North Carolina is one of several state elections are closely monitored by a wider audience on Tuesday. In Indiana, Senator Richard Place lost re-election bid in primary states, 36-year career that ended in victory for the Republican state treasurer, Richard Mourdock, which is supported by the Tea Party and the National Rifle Association.

In Wisconsin, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, won the Democratic gubernatorial primary election to recall the circumstances, which prove him to fight the Republican governor, Scott Walker, in June.

Tami Fitzgerald, chairman of the NC vote for the Marriage, the main group behind the amendment, said: "We're not anti-gay, we are pro-marriage point is not to rewrite the nature of God's design for marriage-based. needs of a group of adults. "

Supporters celebrated the victory with a tiered wedding cake at a party at the North Raleigh Hilton Hotel. They say change is needed to stop the test to define marriage and prevent future action by the judge.

Gay and lesbian rights group expressed their disappointment with the results but said the fighting has brought them together.

President Barack Obama's campaign said in a statement Tuesday that he was "disappointed" in a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, and described it as "divisive and discriminatory". Obama has not supported the legalization of gay marriage but said that his view is "evolving".

Jeremy Kennedy, Coalition to Protect All Families of NC, who fought the amendment, said: "It's just a battle in the battle, a war we can win."

In an emotional speech, his supporters said they would "leave no stone unturned" in bringing people together to fight the change.

"Tonight we go proudly with head held high and we will continue to fight it."

Kennedy and other opponents of the measure warned could lead to a number of problems for unmarried couples, including the erosion of health benefits and for their children. They said it could affect domestic violence laws to protect women.

Evan Wolfson, founder and president of Freedom to marry, said the voice that contrasts with the momentum given the freedom to marry elsewhere in the United States and described it as "a painful reminder of what happens when a pre-emptive action in a ballot that stampeded through before people have enough time to get into a real conversation about who gay families and why marriage is important to them. "

In February, Wolfson and gay rights activists scored a success in California after a federal appeals court struck the state ban on same-sex marriage, ruling it unconstitutional.

Jasmine Beach-Ferrara Pastor, Executive Director of the Southern Campaign for Equality, said: "We are very disappointed that Amendment 1

passed. But now we also know that the more common North Carolina to support LGBT people. "

Twenty-eight states passed constitutional amendments defining marriage only between a man and a woman. The changes are beyond the North Carolina state law to prevent other forms of local unions from bringing legal status.

Legal experts warned that the broad words of these changes may cause some problems for unmarried couples. Several cities in North Carolina offers benefits to unmarried couples in domestic partnership attorney Guardian and said those rights could be lost if the changes are passed.

They can interfere with the order of protection for unmarried couples and the impact of domestic violence victims. The term "domestic legal unions" are not defined by law in North Carolina.

Holning Lau, a professor of law at the University of North Carolina, writes about the implications of Amendment 1, said: "The language is too broad compared to other countries is a common misconception that only affects the same. -Sex marriage. "

A report by Lau and other agencies was "impossible to predict" how courts will resolve issues such as protection for victims of domestic violence, to be raised by the ambiguous language of change.

It concluded that it would take years of costly litigation to resolve the meaning and "when the dust [all] young couples to have fewer rights in their most important decisions in life than if they were not human beings".

Earlier Tuesday, a senior official in the council elections in the state capital said the vote to decide the state constitutional amendment is "the most crazy in 13 years".

Gary Sims, deputy director of the Wake County board of elections in Raleigh, said the Guardian was "some people really angry" on both sides of the highly charged debate.

Observers of the republican party has sought to "oppose and confront" the police officer of the board and "clog the lines of" back at the headquarters of Wake County. "This is the craziest election I've seen in 13 years," said Sims, in his office next to the courthouse.

"We have seen no political party observers Precinct officers. They can request to become an observer. They want to challenge and to face and this is a problem for our police officers. "

He said the reason for the confrontation vary from call to complain that the board of elections no seats for them to sit in encouraging officials to get people to show ID at polls.

"They clog the phone lines and angry at us," said Sims. "People have to say the name and address and we them. But they are difficult for officers to make them show ID. They have a purpose, those we take the issue of. "

When asked if the problem comes from the group or against the first amendment, Sims said: "Look:. We have a zero watchers of the Democratic party "He added:" I might say more than it should. "

High-profile figures, including Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, who recorded phone calls to voters, has weighed in on the debate over the amendment, urged voters to reject it. Opponents also hold a rally, putting the ads on television and gives speeches, including one by Jay Bakker, son of televangelist Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker's too late.

Billy Graham, an evangelical pastor at age 93 remains influential in the country where it has a stretch of road named after him, was featured full-page ads in newspapers that support the amendment.

Massachusetts, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York and the District of Columbia allow gay and lesbian marriage. Maryland, New Jersey and Washington state this year passed legislation approving same-sex marriage, but Governor Chris Christie vetoed the law of New Jersey and the other in Maryland and Washington has warned the initiative on the ballot to overturn the state law.