Tea Party lawmaker opposes NC anti-gay marriage amendment

Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.), a Tea Party freshman who earned liberal ire for a television ad that said she would fight a Muslim "victory mosque" at Ground Zero, said in a surprise announcement this weekend that she opposes a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in the state.

Ellmers said that while she opposes same-sex marriages, she believes the proposed amendment goes too far because it would also ban civil unions.

"Congresswoman Ellmers has always believed that marriage is a sacred institution and is defined as the union between one man and one woman," Ellmers spokesman Tom Doheny wrote in an email to the Raleigh News & Observer. "That is why she has and will continue to protect and defend marriage at the federal level.

"When asked about civil unions, which are different than marriage, she said that she finds nothing wrong with people being granted them, but at the same time, it is currently a state issue and up to the voters to decide," Doheny said.

North Carolina already has a law on the books banning same-sex marriages, but proponents of the bill say that a constitutional ban is necessary to prevent court challenges like those that have been successful in other states.

But the bill would also outlaw civil unions and possibly even domestic partnerships, drawing harsh criticism from the gay community.

Ellmers defeated seven-term Democrat incumbent Bob Etheridge narrowly in 2010, winning by fewer than 1,500 votes. Considered among the more conservative Republicans, Ellmers was endorsed in her race by former Alaska Gov. and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

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