GOP Senate leader Phil Berger introduced the discriminatory bill following a court decision overturning North Carolina's gay marriage ban.
The North Carolina House followed the Senate's lead and voted Thursday to override GOP Gov. Pat McCrory's veto of a bill that will allow court officials to refuse service to same-sex weddings based on their religious beliefs. The
final vote was 69-41, just over the three-fifths needed for the bill to become law.
What this means is that taxpayer-funded employees can refuse services to ... yes ... taxpayers. Because LGBT Americans pay taxes too. And now their taxes can employ people who choose to treat them like second-class citizens.
The AP has the details:
The law means some register of deeds workers who assemble licenses and magistrates to solemnize civil marriages can decide to stop performing all marriages if they hold a "sincerely held religious objection."
McCrory had said no one who takes a government oath should be allowed to avoid performing duties required by that oath.
Before North Carolina, only Utah had passed such a similar exemption, earlier this year.
Here was Gov. McCrory's
veto statement from May:
"I recognize that for many North Carolinians, including myself, opinions on same-sex marriage come from sincerely held religious beliefs that marriage is between a man and a woman. However, we are a nation and a state of laws. Whether it is the president, governor, mayor, a law enforcement officer, or magistrate, 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; therefore, I will veto Senate Bill 2."
9:31 AM PT: UPDATE: An interesting detail from Chris Johnson at the Washington Blade: "The top three companies headquartered in North Carolina—Bank of America, BB&T and Belk—didn’t come out against SB2 when contacted by the Blade about the legislation, nor did the North Carolina Chamber."