North Carolina Senate Overrides Governor's Veto Of Anti-Gay "Religious Freedom" Bill

Lately, North Carolina is working hard to make Virginia look like a progressive, modernity embracing state - and that is no easy task.  First North Carolina passed the heinous anti-gay Amendment 1 even as gay acceptance was growing in Virginia, at least outside of rural cousin marrying cousin parts of the sate.  Then in the wake of the 4th Circuit ruling striking down Virginia's Marshall-Newman Amendment and, by extension, Amendment 1, a group of knuckle dragging North Carolina magistrates refused to marry same sex couples.  Rushing to the relief of these individuals who threw their oath to uphold the laws of the United States and the U.S. Constitution was the GOP controlled North Carolina legislature which passed a "license to discriminate bill" that .  In a rare moment of sanity, GOP North Carolina governor Pat McCrory, vetoed the effort to put Christofascists above the law.  Now, the state legislature has voted to override McCrory's veto.  Here are highlights from The New Civil Rights Movement:

It took almost no time at all for Republican Senators in North Carolina to override Thursday's veto from Governor Pat McCrory of a bill that would allow magistrates to refuse to marry same-sex couples for deeply held religious beliefs. SB2 gives special rights to state magistrates, allowing them to opt-out of marrying same-sex couples by opting-out of officiating at all weddings, so as to not appear discriminatory.

The Senate had passed SB2 in February, and the House passed it last week.

Tonight, Senators overrode the veto in a 32-16 vote, the same margin as they had passed the bill, as Q Notes' Matt Comer first reported tonight. He adds that the NC House could take up the bill Tuesday or Wednesday.

In vetoing the legislation last week, Governor McCrory cited the U.S. Constitution, stating "we are a nation and a state of laws. Whether it is the president, governor, mayor, a law enforcement officer, or magistrate, no public official who voluntarily swears to support and defend the Constitution and to discharge all duties of their office should be exempt from upholding that oath; therefore, I will veto Senate Bill 2." 

I hope progressive businesses are watching and realizing that North Carolina is fast becoming a place where business and personal merit and ability are not favored.  Instead, it's a state that is seeking to appease the ugliest elements of society and resist modernity itself.  The Christofascists remain a clear and present danger to constitutional government in America.