North Carolina GOP lawmakers, not even a month removed from repealing the highly criticized HB2 bathroom law that required transgender residents to use a public bathroom that aligned with the sex they were assigned at birth, are already back to fighting against rights for the LGBTQ community. A handful of Republican representatives in North Carolina have filed a bill that seeks to ban same-sex marriage.
House Bill 780, otherwise known as the Uphold Historical Marriage Act, would go directly against the 2015 decision by the Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriage. This new law states that the Supreme Court “overstepped its constitutional bounds” in the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision (legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide). The bill also points to Christian Bible passages while saying the ruling “exceeds the authority of the court relative to the decree of Almighty God that ‘a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh’ (Genesis 2:24, ESV) and abrogates the clear meaning and understanding of marriage in all societies throughout prior history.”
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In response to the propopsed bill, The American Civil Liberties Union released a statement in which they condemed the GOP’s proposal:
“These extreme proposals would trample on the rights and wellbeing of all community members, spread fear and confusion, waste countless government resources, and do nothing to make North Carolina safer,” said Sarah Gillooly, policy director for the ACLU of North Carolina. “This bill potentially violates federal law and the U.S. Constitution and could expose North Carolina to costly litigation. But more importantly, state lawmakers should not be in the business of telling local officials to target and single out undocumented North Carolinians who work, go to school, and contribute to our communities in countless ways.”
The newest attempt to quash LGBTQ rights in the state could lead to the state losing more funds. The HB2 Bill reportedly cost the state $4 billion in lost revenue after events like the NBA All-Star Game and some NCAA basketball events left due to the discriminatory nature of the law.
(Via The Hill)