Same-sex marriage Coverage

Fact check: Can gay Americans get 'married in the morning' and 'thrown out of a restaurant' in the afternoon?'

Kick-starting the celebrations for Pride month, President Joe Biden said: "When a person can be married in the morning and thrown out of a restaurant for being gay in the afternoon, something is still very wrong in America,"

Grace Abels and Nuria Diaz Munoz, PolitiFact reporters

Fewer same-sex couples live in states where LGBTQ+ laws are less protective, analysis shows

In North Carolina, same-sex couples make up 0.8% of households, according to U.S. Census data. It's slightly below the national average. An analysis shows most states with fewer protections for LGBTQ+ community members sit below the average.

Fewer same-sex couple live in states where LGBTQ+ laws are less protective, WRAL analysis reveals

In North Carolina, same-sex couples make up 0.8% of households, according to U.S. Census data. It's slightly below the national average. An analysis shows most states with fewer protections for LGBTQ+ community members sit below the average.

Ali Ingersoll, WRAL investigative data reporter

Fact check: Did Tillis flip on same-sex marriage?

Abstract: U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., helped pass the Respect for Marriage Act to preserve same-sex marriage protections -- 10 years after leading a statewide push to define marriage as between one man and one woman.

Paul Specht, PolitiFact reporter

Tillis explains changing position on same sex marriage as historic bill passes

Thom Tillis feels the Respect for Marriage Act would preserve the status quo and provide security to those in same sex and interracial marriages while preserving the right of religious organizations not to offer or sanction such unions.

NC's Tillis says Respect for Marriage Act preserves status quo, is 'a good compromise'

The Senate on Tuesday passed legislation to protect same-sex and interracial marriage, called the Respect for Marriage Act, in a landmark bipartisan vote.

By Ali Zaslav and Ted Barrett, CNN; WRAL Capitol Bureau Chief Laura Leslie

Tillis works to pass same-sex marriage bill despite earlier opposition

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina helped the Respect for Marriage Act pass a key vote in the Senate this week by amending it to add protections for religious freedoms. But critics on the religious right say the protections don't go far enough.

Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol bureau chief

NC Sen. Tillis votes in support of same-sex marriage bill

The respect for marriage act would change federal law to recognize the right to same sex and interracial marriage and overturn a 1996 law that said states don't have to recognize those marriages if they were performed in other states. NC Senator Thom Tillis was one of the negotiators who helped the bill move forward in the Senate this week by amending it to add protections for religious freedom.

How they voted: NC congressional votes for the week of July 15

Along with the week's roll call votes, the Senate also passed the Formula Act (H.R. 8351), to suspend, temporarily, rates of duty on imports of certain infant formula products.

Targeted News Service

Fact check: Youngkin says Virginia laws protect same-sex marriage

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin was elusive when recently asked if he would take action to guarantee same sex-marriage under Virginia law, saying: "In Virginia, we actually do protect same-sex marriage." PolitiFact checks his claim.

Warren Fiske, PolitiFact reporter

Raleigh law firm helping protect LGBTQ marriage rights

A law firm, Counsel Carolina, is offering its services to LGBTQ couples to protect the rights that come with marriage in case it's taken away.

Methodist leaders to meet with Durham neighbors after opposition to new church

A Durham church that refuses to perform same-sex marriages will be the topic of a conversation between leaders of the United Methodist Church Tuesday night.

UNC law professor warns if Roe v. Wade is overturned, other civil rights could come into question

University of North Carolina constitutional law professor Andy Hessick told WRAL News that he's never seen the U.S. Supreme Court reverse course on a civil right once it has been granted. Overturning Roe v. Wade could open the door to years of legal battles over other civil rights as well.

Laura Leslie, WRAL capitol bureau chief, Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter and Ali Ingersoll, WRAL Investigative Data Journalist

Church opposing same-sex marriage opens in progressive Durham community

A new church will soon open in downtown Durham - but many in the community are upset about it because of the pastor's stance on same-sex marriage.

Bryan Mims, WRAL reporter

Some residents angry as new church plants in progressive Durham neighborhood

A new church will soon open in downtown Durham - but many in the community are upset about it because of the pastor's stance on same-sex marriage.

German church defies Vatican ban of blessing same-sex couples

Six same-sex couples were blessed at a Catholic church in Colonge on Monday. The blessing was part of a bigger initiative called "Love Wins."

NC law allows wedding venue to refuse gay couple

A Fuquay-Varina wedding venue is within its rights to refuse to host a gay wedding. A spokeswoman for the North Carolina attorney general explained that there are no laws that prevent private businesses from discriminating based on sexual orientation.

Owners of wedding venue believe law is on their side in turning away same-sex couple

A Fuquay-Varina wedding venue may be within its rights to refuse to host a gay wedding. So far, the courts haven't ruled otherwise.

Sloane Heffernan, WRAL reporter

Fuquay-Varina wedding venue turns away same-sex couple

The couple was shocked that a venue would deny them in 2021.

Wedding venue turns away same-sex couple in Fuquay-Varina

A same sex couple is ready to say I do, but a popular wedding venue tin Fuquay-Varina turned them away.

Julian Grace, WRAL anchor

Local Methodist ministers saddened by church's potential split

United Methodist Church leaders from around the world and across ideological divides unveiled a plan Friday for a new conservative denomination that would split from the rest of the church in an attempt to resolve a years-long dispute over gay marriage and gay clergy.

United Methodist leaders propose splitting church over LGBT rift

Leaders in the United Methodist Church have offered a proposal that would allow congregations to form a "traditionalist-minded" denomination as the church struggles with its official stance on gay marriage, the church announced Friday.

He gave thanks for his 2 dads. His teacher condemned gay couples.

A substitute teacher at a Utah public school asked students in a fifth-grade class what they were thankful for before they left for Thanksgiving break.

Neil Vigdor, New York Times

Can someone be fired for being gay? The Supreme Court will decide

ATLANTA -- The Supreme Court has delivered a remarkable series of victories to the gay rights movement over the last two decades, culminating in a ruling that established a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. But in more than half the states, someone can still be fired for being gay.

Adam Liptak, New York Times

Same-sex parents say daycare denied their daughter

A Waco, Texas couple said their daughter was denied admission to a local daycare because they are in a same-sex relationship.