Six families headed by gay couples have amended their 2012 lawsuit
to add claims challenging North Carolina's ban on marriage for gay
and lesbian couples.
The plaintiffs' original suit challenged a North Carolina law that
bans couples from jointly adopting a child.
The North Carolina Attorney General's Office announced earlier
this month that it would not oppose allowing amending the complaint
to include claims challenging the state's marriage ban.
The couples are represented by the ACLU, which has filed similar
challenges in other states, including Pennsylvania.
“The adult plaintiffs seek the same legal recognition of their
family relationships afforded heterosexual married spouses and their
families for the same reason all families seek such relationships,”
the amended complaint reads.
ACLU attorneys argue that the ban hurts the children of gay
couples.
Legal recognition would avoid “numerous psychological, social
and financial detriments that arise from a lack of a legally
recognized marriage or a legally recognized relationship between
parent and child.”
North Carolina voters last year approved a constitutional
amendment which limits marriage to heterosexual couples,
strengthening the state's marriage laws against a constitutional
challenge. However, last month's Supreme Court ruling striking down
the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) appears to have weakened such
amendments.