North Carolina’s marriage equality vote will be the first electoral challenge for gay marriage this year, with the question set to go to voters on May 8. This week, the fight began: proponents of the ban kicked off their campaign on Monday, and its opponents will respond in kind this weekend, stumping at colleges across the state to register voters and build support for a coalition to defeat the ballot amendment in May. Opponents of the measure were in Cullowhee today, home of Western Carolina University, and will head to Ashville tomorrow and Sunday.
As Seth from Maryland pointed out in the comments yesterday, the recent announcement by North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue, a Democrat, that she would not be seeking reelection has changed the calculus for the May election. Perdue has been a vocal opponent of the amendment, arguing that it should not be up to the voters to decide. Democrats in the state worried that that having the ballot on the November election could help Republicans in the presidential and gubernatorial races, so the date was moved up to May. Many observers believed the ban would pass, since the May election would most likely see a high Republican turnout for the presidential primaries and a lower one for Democrats faced with uncontested candidates for president and governor.
Now, the race for the Democratic gubernatorial candidate is wide open, and the May election will be a competitive one for Democrats as well as Republicans. This could bring out more voters in support of marriage equality, causing the ban to fail.
The North Carolina amendment holds symbolic as well as political significance–the state is the last in the South without an explicit ban on same-sex marriage. A win for one side means the South would have a clean sweep against marriage equality; a win for the other would be a marked pronouncement by the electorate rejecting such a ban.
Gay marriage is most likely still a ways off in Australia (even though the ruling Labor party amended its platform in support of marriage equality in December), but a new government policy will make life a little bit easier for LGBT couples in the country. In many countries which allow marriage equality, including Portugal, Spain, Norway and South Africa, applicants for a marriage license are required to produce a Certificate of No Impediment (CNI) which states that both individuals are over 18 and unmarried. In the past, the Australian government has refused to grant CNIs to same-sex couples, effectively prohibiting them from being married abroad.
Yesterday, Australia’s attorney-general, Nicola Roxon, announced that same-sex couples will be able to apply for CNIs starting February 1. The marriages these couples enter into abroad still won’t be recognized by the Australian government.
A small victory, indeed, but an important one for Australia’s LGBT citizens on the road to full marriage equality.
Today, Washington state’s marriage equality bill was approved in the Government Operations, Tribal Relations & Election Committee on a party-line 4-3 voice vote. The bill will move to a full floor vote next, although no date for the full vote has been announced.
Several Republican amendments to the bill were rejected by the committee, including one that would have required sending the measure to the ballot in November. Nevertheless, opponents of marriage equality in the state have promised that if the bill becomes law, they will attempt to collect the more than 120,000 signatures required before July 6 to trigger a referendum.
Congratulations, Washington, and on to the next vote!
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