Speaker Moore: Bill against gay marriage will die in committee

RALEIGH, NC (WWAY) — A bill in the North Carolina General Assembly that targets federal legalization of gay marriage will not move forward.

Today House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) issued a statement on House Bill 780, also known as the Uphold Historical Marriage Act.

“There are strong constitutional concerns with this legislation given that the U.S. Supreme Court has firmly ruled on the issue, therefore House Bill 780 will be referred to the House Rules Committee and will not be heard,” Moore said in the statement.

The bill introduced Tuesday claims that the US Supreme Court overstepped itself with its 2015 ruling that had the effect of voiding an amendment to North Carolina’s constitution forbidding same-sex marriage that voters approved three years earlier.

Republican Reps. Larry Pittman of Concord, Michael Speciale of New Bern and Carl Ford of China Grove say in their proposed legislation that the U.S. Constitution’s states-rights amendment allows North Carolina to decide for itself what its marriage laws should be.

The ACLU of North Carolina said gay marriage is the law and derided the legal reasoning of the three legislators as “half-baked” and “absurd.”

(Information from The Associated Press was used in this story)