North Carolina once again seems to be leading the nation when it comes to proposed anti-LGBTQ legislation, with House Republicans filing a bill on Tuesday that seeks to invalidate the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage across the United States.
House Bill 780, which likely wonβt go anywhere, is called the βUphold Historical Marriage Actβ and would direct the North Carolina state government to defy the SCOTUS ruling and reinstate a previous state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
According to The News & Observer, some of the most conservative members of the House filed H780, and these individuals frequently file bills that donβt actually get a hearing. The News & Observer added:
βThe bill says that the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage across the country βis null and void in the State of North Carolina.β The bill quotes the Christian Bible and says the ruling βexceeds the authority of the court relative to the decree of Almighty God that βa man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one fleshββ (Genesis 2:24, ESV) and abrogates the clear meaning and understanding of marriage in all societies throughout prior history.β
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper (D), who recently came under fire from LGBTQ activists for his handling of the HB2 βrepeal,β tweeted on Tuesday that HB780 βis wrong.β
In 2012, North Carolinians voted to pass Amendment One, legislation that made same-sex marriages illegal in the state. HB780 seeks to return to this legislative bar and strip the legality of same-sex unions in North Carolina.
Similar legislation recently popped up in Tennessee seeking to define marriage as between a man and a woman, called the Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act.
Try not to lose any sleep over this β with any luck, this bill will merely be a blip on our radars.
