Gay marriages are targeted in new North Carolina opt-out law for magistrates, other officials
Some court officials in North Carolina can refuse to perform marriages based on a sincerely held religious objection, according to a new law passed on Thursday.
The North Carolina House voted to override the governor’s veto of the measure on Thursday, following a June 1 vote by the Senate, report the New York Times, the Asheville Citizen-Times and the Raleigh News & Observer.
The law was aimed at same-sex marriages though it doesn’t specifically mention them, the Times says.
Utah is the only other state with a marriage “religious objection” law, according to the News & Observer.
The North Carolina opt-out law applies to magistrates, and assistant and deputy registers of deeds. If someone is needed to perform marriages in their place, chief district judges or the county register of deeds would do so. An official who opts out of marriages can do so at any time, but the opt out must last at least six months.
Gov. Pat McCrory refused to sign the bill in May, saying “no public official who voluntarily swears to support and defend the Constitution and to discharge all duties of their office should be exempt from upholding that oath.” McCrory said, however, that he personally believed marriage should be between a man and a woman.
