While the nation’s eyes are turned on North Carolina as it becomes the 30th state to adopt a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, New Hanover County delivered a strikingly high percentage of votes opposing the amendment. WHQR’s Rachel Lewis Hilburn reports.
Voter turnout for the May primary didn’t quite reach the extraordinary levels of the 2008 primary, but it was significantly higher than the primary of 2010. In New Hanover County, the amendment squeaked through with a majority of less than half a percentage point – a notable contrast to Columbus, Robeson, Pender, and Brunswick Counties – which showed clear majorities in support of the gay marriage ban. The way that division played out at the polls in New Hanover County was as unpredictable as the final vote.
Dave wouldn’t reveal whether he was voting Republican or Democrat, but he wasn’t shy about voicing his opposition to Amendment One:
“Personally I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. I mean, that’s the definition of it. But I believe that people should have all the legal rights to marriage and this appears to say no to that, too.”
Alicia agrees. She says God ordained marriage as being between a man and a woman, but she also voted against the amendment.
“You can’t pick one sin above another, so no one has the right to say because you choose someone of the same sex that you don’t deserve the same rights that everybody else has.”
Gay rights groups are organizing nonviolent protests across the state. The American Civil Liberties Union is considering whether to take legal action. And just yesterday President Obama announced his support of gay marriage after years of equivocation on the topic.
