RALEIGH, N.C. — Clergy and advocates differed Wednesday whether over judicial officials are obligated by law to carry out civil same-sex marriages in North Carolina even if they object to same-sex marriage due to their religious beliefs.
Several people addressed a House judiciary panel charged with considering a Senate bill approved last week that would let magistrates and assistant and deputy registers of deeds refuse to carry out marriage duties with a “sincerely held religious objection.”
The bill was filed by Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, to address the concerns of some magistrates who resigned after federal judges struck down in October a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
Voters approved the amendment in a referendum in 2012.
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No vote was taken on the measure Wednesday. Committee chairman Rep. Leo Daughtry, R-Johnston, said afterward no decision had been made about how lawmakers would handle the bill moving forward.
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When a couple goes to the register’s office to obtain a license, a magistrate can officiate the marriage.
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