A marriage amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman is set to pass in North Carolina on Tuesday by a 14 percent margin.
The amendment will state that, “marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized.”
According to Public Policy Polling, 57 percent of voters in North Carolina think gay marriage should be illegal compared to only 34 percent who think it should be legal. Support for the marriage amendment is especially high among black voters, seniors, Independents and Republicans, but a firm 42 percent of Democrats support it as well.
A state-wide anti-amendment campaign, mostly propelled by young voters, has spread during the last few months. Many of the local Universities have passed campus resolutions protesting the amendment, including UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State and Duke Universities. New sites have also cropped up such as www.protectncfamilies.org and anti-amendment television ads have been aired all over the state.
Former President Bill Clinton even offered his voice for an anti-amendment robo-call saying the marriage amendment would decrease North Carolina’s competitive edge.
“It will hurt families and drive away jobs,” he said.
But these efforts have failed to make any serious impact on the polls. Thousands of marriage supporters rallied last week to show their support for the marriage amendment.
Church officials have come out in large numbers to encourage their members to vote for traditional marriage. Raleigh diocesean Bishop Michael Burbidge called all Catholics to vote for the amendment saying, “Unlike what has been said recently by the current administration, it is not in any way involved in any form of discrimination. We would never tolerate such behavior. It is for the union of man and woman.”
North Carolina has taken a substantial conservative shift since 2010, when Republicans gained control of General Assembly for the first time in 118 years.
Voting in the North Carolina primary opens tomorrow morning and should prove to be a considerable victory for North Carolina pro-marriage conservatives.
