RALEIGH — The Democratic majority controlling the N.C. General Assembly is preventing the people’s will from being exerted regarding a marriage amendment, according to one of its newest members from Surry County.

“Eighty percent of the people favor it,” Rep. Sarah Stevens of Mount Airy said this week regarding the goal of a measure known as the “Defense of Marriage Act.” The Republican serving her first term in the N.C. House of Representatives co-sponsored that legislation along with all 52 GOP members of the state House and about a dozen Democrats wanting to avoid same-sex unions.

The act would allow the state’s citizens to vote on whether the North Carolina Constitution should be amended to state “Marriage between a man and a woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state.”

While the proposal recently was filed in the General Assembly, it’s a long way from reaching the point where it can be acted on due to the control wielded by Democrats, who outnumber Republicans in the state Legislature. This allows them to influence the flow of bills that are introduced.

Democratic leaders in the House are requiring that the marriage-amendment bill co-sponsored by the more than 60 lawmakers go through four committees before floor debate can even begin. That is considered a rare number of committees to hurdle, complicated even more by the fact that a similar measure in the Senate has been relegated to a committee that hasn’t even met for years.

“As long as they have control over what can and cannot be heard,” Stevens added this week of Democratic leaders, “it doesn’t appear that it’s going to be heard.”

Supporters of the marriage amendment say it is needed to ensure that only traditional unions are allowed in North Carolina. The state already has a law on the books stating that a marriage is “created by the consent of a male and female person.”

However, bill proponents are concerned that the statute could be subjected to the kind of court challenge that has led to marriage laws in nine other states being redefined to include same-sex couples.

A constitutional amendment approved by voters, on the other hand, would galvanize North Carolina’s legal position on marriage, and would be difficult to subvert.

Stevens points out that other states in this part of the country have adopted such a constitutional amendment. “We are the only one in the Southeast” without it, the local representative said of the measure that has been approved by the 14 other states in the region. In all, 30 states have done so.

“The will of the overwhelming majority of the citizens must not continue to be ignored,” Stevens added.

She said the marriage amendment has been introduced in the General Assembly each of the past five years without the Legislature or citizens of North Carolina being allowed to vote on the proposal. For six years, the Democrat leaders of the Senate and House have refused to allow even one committee hearing on the bill, according to Stevens’ research on the subject.

“They’re not listening to their constituents,” she said.

Democratic Stance

Democratic leaders in the state Legislature consider the existing law to be sufficient, and do not foresee it being challenged in court anytime soon.

Another factor is that some believe North Carolina’s legal stance on man-woman marriages is less likely to be targeted for litigation than in other states where constitutions have wording providing for equal benefits for all.

The N.C. Supreme Court would have to rule that the state’s existing law somehow allows marriage by people of the same sex.

There also is a belief that Democratic leaders are being influenced by gay-rights activists, and do not want to risk alienating a minority by advancing a measure some consider discriminatory.

Timing Right?

Although North Carolina is facing major challenges with the economy, Rep. Stevens said this is an opportune time to tackle the amendment because “It’s something that can be done right now.”

She added earlier this week that since legislators have not received a state budget to consider, there is extra time now to work on the marriage amendment.

“I think it’s an important issue to the state because it does say something about where we stand in the state” on marriage, the local General Assembly member said.

Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtairynews.com or at 719-1924.