Supporters of amending the North
Carolina Constitution to ban gay marriage will hold a rally in
Raleigh on Tuesday.
Attorney David Gibbs Jr., founder of
Christian Law Association, will speak at the event to be held at the
Halifax Mall starting at 10:30AM. The rally is being sponsored by
the Christian conservative group Return America. The Family Research
Council urged its members to attend the event in a recent blog post.
“In previous Return America marriage
rallies thousands have come to Raleigh and expressed their support
for Biblical marriage,” Return America wrote at its website. “This
will be the most important rally yet since so much is at stake.”
“The future of our children and grand
children may be determined by the outcome of this rally,” the group
added.
Legislation that would put the question
on the 2012 ballot was introduced in the Senate in February and in
the House in April.
The Senate version explicitly bans
other unions in addition to marriage, which might include civil
unions and domestic partnerships, but the House version only covers
marriage. Gay rights activists worry that the Senate version could
outlaw domestic partner benefits currently offered by private sector
employers.
Republicans won control of both
chambers of the Legislature on November 2. Previous attempts to
amend the constitution were blocked by Democratic leaders.