There is nothing in the law that mandates that those who practice a sexual deviation are guaranteed the right to marry on the basis of discrimination. In fact, sodomy is a class A felony under NC law, no matter what the sexual orientation of the practitioners. At least, to the benefit of homosexuals, this law is rarely enforced. Even if the state of NC legalized gay marriage, they would not have the right to the tax filing on a Federal level. The Defense of Marriage Act which passed in 1996 with overwhelming majorities in both houses and signed into law by President Clinton maintains that the government may not treat same sex relationships as marriage whether recognized under state law or not, and no state has to recognize any same sex relationship as a marriage even if it is recognized as a marriage in another state. The argument for gay marriage used to be that unmarried partners had no next of kin rights over their partners medical treatment if they were incapable of making decisions on their own. That is easily resolved with a medical power of attorney. Life insurance benefits were also a non issue. You can assign anyone as a beneficiary. They can hold commitment ceremonies and some churches perform gay weedings that are just not legally binding under law. They are free to love who they want and apparently they do so. If a person's only reasons for getting married is for a tax break or to be added to a company medical policy, maybe they should go back and rethink getting married at all. It is really not what marriage is all about.