News (USA)

N.C. AG says he supports marriage equality, but will keep defending the ban

N.C. AG says he supports marriage equality, but will keep defending the ban

RALEIGH, N.C. — Attorney General Roy Cooper’s office will continue to argue in court for North Carolina’s constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage, even as Virginia’s new attorney general has decided to fight his state’s gay marriage ban.

Atty. General Roy Cooper (D-N.C.)
Atty. General Roy Cooper (D-N.C.)

Cooper, a Democrat, previously said he supports marriage equality but wouldn’t let personal views halt his professional obligation to defend the state in a federal lawsuit seeking to negate the 2012 amendment.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring said Thursday his state’s amendment is unconstitutional and that he would seek to overturn it.

After that news, Cooper said in a statement that North Carolina should change its marriage law and believes basic fairness eventually will prevail.

But he says it’s still his office’s duty to make legal arguments when they exist to defend a law.

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