Democratic Lawmakers, Black Clergy at Odds Over Same-Sex Marriage in N.C.
The black clergy is usually a reliable ally of Democrats, from city hall to the state house to Congress. But on Tuesday, black pastors in North Carolina squared off against Democratic lawmakers over a proposed state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
The Rev. Johnny Hunter, of Cliffdale Community Church in Fayetteville, N.C., said homosexual-rights advocates have offended the state’s black community by likening the efforts to legalize same-sex marriage with the black struggle for civil rights during the 1960s.
"Blacks know what real discrimination is all about," said Hunter, contending that proponents of same-sex marriage are "disrespecting ... the foot soldiers of the civil-rights movement,” as reported by The Associated Press.
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State Rep. Grier Martin did not address himself directly to Hunter’s remarks but argued that the proposed amendment to the Tarheel State’s constitution “sends the wrong message to North Carolinians crying out for jobs.”
But Martin didn’t offer any hard evidence that North Carolina’s jobless will be adversely affected if the ballot question is approved by the state’s voters and lesbian and gay couples are unable to lawfully marry.
The state legislature’s House Democratic Caucus, however, did recruit several business executives who attested that an amendment banning same-sex marriage would deter new, growing companies from locating in North Carolina because of perception that the state’s elected leaders bear animus toward gays and lesbians.
The elected leaders to whom the business execs referred are Republicans in North Carolina’s capital who hope to put the question of same-sex marriage before the state’s voters.
Republican Majority Leader Paul Stam said, in a press release Tuesday, that the state legislature’s Democrats are hypocritical in accusing backers of the proposed amendment banning same-sex marriage as engaging in supposed “hate speech” when Democratic lawmakers themselves have previously backed similar measures.
North Carolina Republicans and Democrats alike enacted a state law defining a legally-recognized marriage as one "created by the consent of a male and female person." They also enacted a 1996 state law declaring that same-sex marriages in other states are invalid in North Carolina.
If approved by the state legislature, the proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage is likely to appear on North Carolina’s statewide ballot next year. A survey this past spring by Public Policy Polling found that 46 percent of North Carolinians opposed same-sex marriage compared to 24 percent that would allow gays and lesbians to marry.
