Prop 8 Author: N.C. Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment 'Goes Too Far'

David Blankenhorn, a supporter and an author of California's Proposition 8, recently co-wrote an op-ed piece slamming North Carolina's proposed ban on marriage equality.

Blankenhorn and Elizabeth Marquardt, both of the Institute for American Values, recently published an article in the New & Observer, where they say that the anti-gay amendment goes too far.

The proposed measure says "marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state."

"That's a big mouthful, and it goes well beyond the issue of same-sex marriage," Blankenhorn and Marquardt wrote. "For one thing, it means that North Carolina could not, now or ever, take any step or devise any policy to extend legal recognition and protection to same-sex couples. No domestic partnership laws. No civil unions. Nothing.

"That's mighty cold. If you disdain gay and lesbian persons, and don't care whether they and their families remain permanently outside of the protection of our laws, such a policy might be your cup of tea. But it's not our view, and we doubt that it's the view of most North Carolinians."

In 2010, Blankenhorn supported Prop 8 and testified in court saying that marriage should be defined between one man and one woman.

The article pointed that in California, Blankenhorn had argued in favor of domestic partnerships, or civil unions, while also insisting that marriage, "because of its unique role in uniting biological, social and legal parenthood - a great gift to our children - is its own institution, deserving of its own name, and should remain, as it has always been, the union of a man and a woman."

Blankenhorn and Marquardt write that their argument is that citizens of North Carolina should not amend their constitution "in order to ban even the future consideration of this, or any other, idea for aiding gay and lesbian couples and their families."

"We are convinced that these two ideas - marriage as society's most pro-child institution that seeks to bond mothers and fathers to their children, and humane recognition for same-sex couples - stand best when they stand together," they write.

A recent poll showed that six out of ten North Carolina residents are against the amendment that would ban same-sex marriage, domestic partnerships or civil unions, the local NBC affiliate NBC17 reported.

The poll found that 38 percent said they "support full marriage rights for gay couples" -- a two percent increase from a February poll. Twenty-nine percent said they back civil unions or partnerships for same-sex couples.

North Carolina voters will vote on the measure on May 8.