By L.A. Williams, Correspondent
Christian Action League
October 17, 2013
ASHEVILLE — Bumcombe County Register of Deeds Drew Reisinger is being heralded as a hero by homosexual forces after he accepted marriage license applications from more than a dozen same-sex couples early last week, even as North Carolina’s Attorney General Roy Cooper waltzes further into controversy by declaring his personal support for gay marriage while he‘s supposed to be defending the state‘s Constitution.
Orchestrated by the Campaign for Southern Equality and Reisinger, who wants to become the first register of deeds in the South to sign a same-sex marriage license, the latest “We Do” campaign stunt took place Tuesday in Asheville, after which the register of deeds requested permission from Cooper’s office to sign the bogus applications. The request, which was denied, came just hours after the Attorney General had announced that he personally supports same-sex marriage and the week after his plans to headline a major fundraising event for Equality North Carolina became public.
But the response to Reisinger from Cooper’s office, a letter from chief deputy attorney general Grayson Kelley, was clear.
“Unless the courts rule otherwise or North Carolina law is changed, issuance of marriage license to a same-sex couple would be violation of the law,” it stated.
Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League, said the opinions of elected officials should not outweigh the will of the people, who voted 61 percent to 39 percent last year to keep marriage between a man and a woman.
“My mechanic may not agree with the state’s inspection law, but if I show up with a bicycle and ask him for a vehicle inspection, he’s not going to be hailed a hero for challenging the DMV by sending in paperwork on my bike. He would simply have to decide whether his business would continue to operate as an official inspection station or not,” said Dr. Creech. “I suggest the situation is similar for Reisinger, who, like all registers of deeds, has sworn an oath to uphold the law.”
He said if Reisinger wanted to have a role in making the laws for North Carolina, he should have run for the Legislature and not the Register of Deeds office.
Meanwhile, many lawmakers and the Governor’s office as well have lost faith in the Attorney General’s ability to adequately defend the state on issues such as same-sex marriage and voter identification, which he has vocally opposed.
Although he has said he can separate his personal views from his role as the state’s legal defender, earlier this year Cooper quickly agreed to expand a suit over adoption laws to include a challenge to the Marriage Protection Amendment.
Earlier this month, when Cooper proclaimed his support for same-sex marriage in announcing plans to run for Governor in 2016, lawmakers pointed out his growing inability to fulfill the duties of his office.
“He can’t speak for the state since his opinion now is exactly contrary to the Constitution of the state of North Carolina,” Rep. Paul Stam (R-Wake) told WNCN.
“The people of the state voted by a big majority to take the opposite position from his,” Stam added. “Now he thinks he can go before a federal judge and say, ‘Judge, this law is fine. I’m against it. It makes no sense, it’s crazy, but please uphold it.’
“That is damaging to his client, the people of the state of North Carolina.”
