North Carolina voters slam the door shut on gay marriage

RALEIGH // North Carolina voters overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as solely between a man and a woman, but not much is expected to change immediately.

That's because North Carolina law already banned gay marriage. The amendment voters passed on Tuesday by about 61 per cent of voters effectively will seal the door on same-sex marriages and potentially have other effects.

"Same-sex marriage was illegal today; it's illegal tomorrow," said Professor John Dinan, a political science professor at Wake Forest University who writes an annual review of state constitutional amendments. "There were no same-sex civil unions recognised in North Carolina today. Those will not be recognised tomorrow. The bottom line is there's not a lot of change because of this amendment."

The amendment likely would affect issues other than gay marriage the most because the "marriage-plus" amendment approved in North Carolina prohibits not only same-sex marriage, but also same-sex civil unions. Nineteen states have such amendments, Prof Dinan said.

For example, a handful of local governments provide benefits to employees who are involved in same-sex relationships. In Michigan, the state's highest court ruled that an amendment did affect those benefits, Prof Dinan said. Opponents had said they feared the law could affect domestic violence protections, some of which refer to people who live together.