The office of North Carolina Senator
Kay Hagan has released a statement in opposition to a proposed gay
marriage ban.
Last Tuesday, the North Carolina Senate
approved a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage in
the state and sent it to voters for their approval in May. The
House approved the measure the day before. The legislation moved
from House committee to final approval in the Senate in roughly 26
hours. All together, lawmakers spent less than six hours debating
the issue and blocked the public from debating on the divisive
legislation.
“Senator Hagan implores elected
officials everywhere to focus on lowering the nation's unemployment
rate and remains wary of attempts to alter constitutions in the heat
of today's charged political environment,” Mary Hanley, a
spokeswoman for Hagan, told gay weekly The
Washington Blade.
While the statement does not
specifically mention the amendment, Hagan is considered an ally to
the gay community. She voted in favor of repeal of the law set to
expire Tuesday that bans gay and bisexual troops from serving openly.
However, she has yet to co-sponsor legislation that would repeal the
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the law that forbids federal agencies
from recognizing the legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples.