Professor Shannon Gilreath publishes op/ed in Raleigh News and Observer opposing Amendment One

Research | Comments Off

By Lisa Snedeker

Office of Communications and Public Relations

May 3, 2012

I do not favor gay marriage. I do not personally believe that gay people should marry in this state or any other. This conviction is based on reasons likely very different from those of Amendment One’s supporters. Nevertheless, I oppose Amendment One.

The pertinent observation is that Amendment One is not about marriage. If the legislators giving us Amendment One want to write a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, they can do so in simple language. I’ll even suggest some language here: “Marriages between individuals of the same gender are not valid in North Carolina.”

Incidentally, North Carolina already has a law that says just that, enacted in 1995. Clearly, if our legislators believe that a majority of us want a law banning gay marriage, they know how to write one. Instead, Amendment One, before voters on Tuesday, says: “Marriage between a man and a woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State.”