North Carolina Attorney General Roy
Cooper has said that he supports gay marriage.
“I support marriage equality,”
Cooper
responded when asked whether he'd like to see the state's
constitutional amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual couples
repealed or a law passed allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry in
North Carolina.
Cooper, a Democrat and a possible 2016
gubernatorial candidate, is a named defendant and the state's lead
attorney in a lawsuit challenging the amendment, approved by 61
percent of voters last year. Cooper opposed passage of the amendment
last year – calling its language vague – but never publicly
announced his support for gay nuptials.
He went on to state that his personal
views won't interfere with defending the amendment in the case.
Equality North Carolina (ENC) Executive
Director Chris Sgro applauded Cooper's remarks.
“The Attorney General has long been
an advocate for equal rights for all people and we applaud him for
publicly aligning with a fast-growing majority of North Carolinians
who now support the legal relationships between committed LGBT
couples,” Sgro
said in a statement.
Cooper will keynote the group's 2013
Foundation Gala taking place in downtown Greensboro on November 9.