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H174 • 2025

Marriage Equality Act.

Marriage Equality Act.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Butler, Rubin, Lopez, Belk, Ager, Ball, Brockman, K. Brown, Budd, Carney, Cervania, Clark, Cohn, Crawford, Dahle, Dew, Greenfield, Harrison, Hawkins, Liu, Logan, Longest, Morey, Prather, Price, Turner, von Haefen
Last action
2025-02-25
Official status
Ref To Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Marriage Equality Act.

Marriage Equality Act.

What This Bill Does

  • Marriage Equality Act.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2025-02-25 House

    Ref To Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

  2. 2025-02-25 House

    Passed 1st Reading

  3. 2025-02-21 House

    Filed

Official Summary Text

Marriage Equality Act.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 174

Short Title: Marriage Equality Act. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives Butler, Rubin, Lopez, and Belk (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
February 25, 2025
*H174-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO AFFIRM AND PROTECT MARRIAGE EQUALITY IN NORTH CAROLINA. 2
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 3
SECTION 1. This act shall be known as the "North Carolina Marriage Equality Act." 4
The purpose of this act is to codify the right of all individuals to marry, regardless of sex, gender, 5
or sexual orientation, ensuring equal treatment under the law in the State of North Carolina. 6
SECTION 2. Article 1 of Chapter 51 of the General Statutes is amended by adding 7
the following new sections to read: 8
"§ 51-5.6. Codification of marriage equality. 9
(a) Marriage is the legally recognized union of two consenting individuals, regardless of 10
sex, gender, or sexual orientation. 11
(b) All laws, policies, and regulations of the State of North Carolina and its political 12
subdivisions shall be applied equally to all married couples, regardless of the sex, gender, or 13
sexual orientation of the parties. 14
(c) No state or local government entity, agency, or official may refuse to recognize a 15
marriage legally performed under this section. 16
"§ 51-5.7. Protection against discrimination. 17
(a) No individual, corporation, association, or government entity may deny services, 18
benefits, rights, or responsibilities related to marriage based on sex, gender, or sexual orientation. 19
(b) Public officials responsible for issuing marriage licenses or performing civil 20
marriages shall not refuse to do so based on the sex, gender, or sexual orientation of the 21
applicants." 22
SECTION 3. G.S. 51-1.2 and G.S. 51-5.5 are repealed. 23
SECTION 4. If any provision of this act or its application is held invalid, the 24
invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications o f this act that can be given effect 25
without the invalid provisions or application and, to this end, the provisions of this act are 26
severable. 27
SECTION 5. This act is effective when it becomes law. 28