First same-sex license is issued
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on October 14, 2014 1:46 PM
Wayne County issued its first same-sex marriage license on Monday to James Andrew Wilson, 66, and Timothy Allen Rose, 59, of Carteret and Sampson counties, respectively.
A judge overturned North Carolina's ban on same-sex marriage Friday, opening the way for gay and lesbian couples to marry.
Wilson said the couple did not wish to comment on being the first same-sex couple in Wayne County to apply for a marriage license.
Wayne County Register of Deeds Lois J. Mooring signed the license, but could not confirm whether the couple intended to use it.
On May 8, 2012, North Carolina passed Amendment One, banning same-sex marriages.
On April 28, 2014, a group filed a federal lawsuit with the goal of obtaining the right to marry for same-sex couples.
Last Friday, Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina overturned Amendment One, thereby allowing same-sex couples in the state to begin applying for marriage licenses and getting married.
Amendment One was overturned on the basis that it violates the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, according to Cogburn's ruling.
"The issue before this court is neither a political issue nor a moral issue," the ruling said. "It is a legal issue and it is clear as a matter of what is now settled law in the 4th Circuit that North Carolina laws prohibiting same-sex marriage, refusing to recognize same-sex marriages originating elsewhere and/or threatening to penalize those who would solemnize such marriages, are unconstitutional."
-- Staff writer Kirsten Ballard contributed to this report.