North Carolina Outlaws Gay Marriage

On Tuesday, North Carolina became the thirtieth state to pass an amendment defining marriage as only being between a man and a woman. It also made the state the nineteenth to ban same sex civil unions.

The voting in North Carolina crossed racial and political lines. Voters, came in at sixty-one percent for the amendment, thirty-nine percent against.

The bill takes effect January 1, 2013. Sixteen years ago, the state passed a law banning same sex marriages.

Six states, and the District of Columbia, have laws that allow same sex marriage.

Minnesota has a vote on a marriage amendment, coming in November. Maine's 2009 ban on same sex marriage is up for rescinding, at that time as well.