So North Carolina has a marriage amendment in its constitution. What now?

For starters, the debate isn’t over. Gay-marriage proponents have vowed to use organizational ties forged in the amendment fight to keep their issues in the public eye. They started last week, sending gay couples to county offices to request marriage licenses the couples knew they couldn’t get and to get arrested for refusing to leave.

The protect-marriage crowd is ready to defend the amendment approved Tuesday if need be, supporters said. But it seems more likely they’ll be able to declare victory and move on to other issues. Local pastor Ron Baity, whose Return America group pushed the marriage amendment for years, said last week that there are “many issues on the front burner,” but “I’m not going to tip my hand.”

The handful of local governments that offer health benefits to employees’ domestic partners are sorting out what the amendment means for them. At least one Mecklenburg County commissioner is pushing to end his county’s existing benefit program, The Charlotte Observer reported last week. The city of Charlotte is considering adding same-sex benefits in what could lead to a test case for the new amendment, the newspaper reported.

Read the full story here.

Professor Michael Curtis tells the Fayetteville Observer that generally constitutional amendments can’t be unconstitutional under the constitution they are amending but that the U.S. Supreme Court has the power to overturn the constitutional ban on same-sex unions.

On Tuesday the vote, on Wednesday the aftermath. As supporters of the constitutional ban on same-sex unions rejoiced in its passage, the president announced his personal support for same-sex marriage and gay rights groups vowed to continue their battle for recognition.

“The fight’s not over,” said Storm Silvermane, president of the Alliance, an advocacy group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people in the Sandhills.

“Certain organizations may think that they won,” Silvermane said, “but as long as we’re still standing, the fight is not over.”

The amendment passed by a wide margin, 1.3 million votes to about 830,000 in unofficial tallies. That didn’t surprise Tami Fitzgerald, who led the Vote FOR Marriage NC coalition that campaigned for the measure.

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After months of rallies, marches and heated debate, North Carolina’s proposed marriage amendment is less than a week away from the ballot box.The amendment on the ballot reads, “Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state.”

But there’s a second sentence to it that is not on the ballot that would also be added to the constitution if the amendment passes: “This section does not prohibit a private party from entering into contracts with another private party; nor does this section prohibit courts from adjudicating the rights of private parties pursuant to such contracts.”

The amendment would ban same-sex marriages, civil unions and domestic partnerships for unmarried couples, straight or gay. It could only be changed by another constitutional amendment.

Twenty-eight other states have approved constitutional bans on same-sex marriage, but the bans are not all the same. Some only address marriage, while others go further. No other state has enacted the exact language of North Carolina’s amendment.

“This is the most ambiguous of any in the country. If the supporters really wanted to just prohibit same-sex marriage, that’s the amendment they should have written. They reached too far,” said Suzanne Reynolds, associate dean at the Wake Forest University School of Law.

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Wake Forest University law professors helped educate voters about the Marriage Amendment on Friday.

Professors talked about some of the misconceptions behind the proposed legislation at a panel discussion. They say most voters think the amendment bans same-sex marriage, but that is already banned. Professors explained that the amendment denies civil union rights to anyone, gay or straight.

Read the full story and watch the event video recording here.