House Bill 493: Defense of Marriage Amendment

Authors:
Representatives Moore, Crawford, Hill, Johnson, Allred, Almond, Avila, Barnhart, Bell, Blackwood, Blust, Boylan, Brisson, Brown, Brubaker, Church, Clary, Cleveland, Cole, Current, Daughtridge, Daughtry, Dockham, Dollar, England, Folwell, Frye, Gillespie, Grady, Gulley, Hilton, Holloway, Holmes, Howard, Hurley, Justice, Justus, Killian, Kiser, Langdon, Lewis, Love, McComas, McElraft, McGee, Neumann, Pate, Pierce, Ray, Samuelson, Setzer, Spear, Stam, Starnes, Steen, Stiller, Thomas, Tillis, Walend, Walker, R. Warren, West, Wiley, Yongue

Summary:
This was a proposed amendment to the North Carolina Constitution limiting marriage to the union of one man and one woman at one time. It would also not have recognized civil unions between persons of the same sex.

Unfortunately, Speaker of the House Joe Hackney carried out his threat to use his power to refer House Bill 493 to the House Judiciary Committee, thereby killing it for this legislative session. Speaker Hackney’s decision to re-refer the bill to a House committee was made despite the fact that both Democrats and Republicans had joined together to move the bill out of committee for a vote in the full House.

Status:

3/5/2007		Filed
3/6/2007		First reading and referred to the Committee on Rules
5/22/2007		Reported without prejudice; referred to the Judiciary Committee

HSLDA's Position:
HSLDA supports this legislation.

Action Requested:
None at this time.

Background:
Your right to homeschool rests on another freedom: the freedom to direct the education and upbringing of your children. Underlying your right to homeschool are parental rights, which are supported by the sanctity of marriage. Anything that undermines marriage may ultimately undermine parental rights and therefore threaten your freedom to homeschool.

Amending the North Carolina constitution will protect marriage from activist state judges. Without this amendment, an activist judge, out of step with the citizens, will one day redefine marriage for everyone.

If you have any questions or concerns about what this bill would do, please do not hesitate to contact us for additional information.

Other Resources

May-31-2007—Update on the Defense of Marriage Amendment

Bill Text