Proposed resolution on Amendment 1
Editor’s note: the following is a resolution proposed by Polk County Commissioner Tom Pack during the county’s April 2 meeting. The resolution was not voted upon as a majority of commissioners removed the item from the agenda.
Resolution in support of voter participation in the May 8, 2012 vote to amend the North Carolina Constitution protecting marriage
WHEREAS, in 1995 the North Carolina legislature enacted NCGS 51-1-2, which states that marriages, whether created by common law, contracted or performed outside of North Carolina, between individuals of the same gender are not valid in North Carolina; and
WHEREAS, the United States Congress enacted 1 USCS Section 7, which states, “In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or any ruling, regulation or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word ‘marriage’ means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word ‘spouse’ refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife;” and
WHEREAS, in 2011 the North Carolina General Assembly allowed the people of this great state the right to vote on whether or not to amend the North Carolina Constitution to preserve marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman; and
WHEREAS, North Carolina is the only state in the South that has not protected marriage in its constitution; and
WHEREAS, every state in the country that has allowed the people to vote, 30 in all, has protected marriage in its constitution as the union of one man and one woman, including North Carolina’s bordering states of Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina; and
WHEREAS, the Polk County Board of Commissioners encourage the people of Polk County and North Carolina to voice their opinion by exercising their right to vote; and
WHEREAS, the amendment reads:
“Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state. This section does not prohibit a private party from entering into contracts with another private party; nor does this section prohibit courts from adjudicating the rights of private parties pursuant to such contracts.”
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Polk County Board of Commissioners endorses the marriage amendment to the North Carolina Constitution which states that the only domestic legal union that is valid or recognized in North Carolina is marriage between one man and one woman; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Polk County Board of Commissioner encourages voter participation on this important issue to be voted upon on May 8, 2012.