Story Excerpt:
(MSNBC) North Carolina voters Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a proposed amendment to the state’s constitution which limits marriage to traditional one man-one woman marriages. With all of the state’s 100 counties reporting, the amendment won in a landslide, with 61 percent of the vote.
Supporters of traditional marriage were encouraged by the outcome in North Carolina and portrayed it as part of a trend in their favor.
“Our position that marriage is between a man and a woman is gaining support, not losing support,” said Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage. “Earlier this week the Gallup poll showed that support for same-sex marriage is down. Actual vote percentages in favor of traditional marriage are rising. In 2008 in California, the Prop 8 constitutional amendment on traditional marriage passed with 52 percent of the vote. Then in 2009 in Maine, 53 percent of voters stood for traditional marriage and rejected same-sex marriage legislation. In 2010, 56 percent of Iowa voters rejected three Supreme Court judges who had imposed gay marriage in that state. And now more than 60 percent of North Carolina voters have passed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. There is a clear trend line, and it is moving in our direction.”
Signs in support of and against the Constitutional Marriage Amendment greet voters May 8 at a polling location at Leesville Road Middle School in Raleigh, N.C.
On other other side, some gay and lesbian rights advocates portrayed the North Carolina outcome as a case of voters being uninformed or deceived.
The gay and lesbian advocacy group Faith in America said that voters were “duped into believing their religious belief justified bringing harm to the state’s gay and lesbian individuals, especially youth and their families.”
The group said, “We acknowledge the right of voters to decide issues but we do not believe such an expression of bigotry should have been put to a vote by individuals who were banking on a win because of the populace’s misunderstanding about sexual orientation….”
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