Amy Cantrell and Lauren White are married outside the Buncombe County Register of Deeds office on Friday evening by the Rev. Lisa Bovee-Kemper. Cantrell and White were among the first same-sex couples in North Carolina to receive legal marriage licenses and legally wed. Photo Credit: Campaign for Southern Equality.

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A federal judge in North Carolina’s Western District issued an order late Friday afternoon striking down the state’s anti-LGBT constitutional amendment. The order permanently prohibiting the state in a United Church of Christ lawsuit from enforcing the ban. Additionally, the judge denied Republican state leaders’ motion to intervene in the case.

U.S. District Court Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr., issued his two orders shortly after 5 p.m.

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read the order Click here to read Judge Max Cogburn’s order overturning Amendment One

“Defendants are PERMANENTLY ENJOINED from enforcing such laws to the extent these laws prohibit a person from marrying another person of the same gender, prohibit recognition of same-sex marriages lawfully solemnized in other States, Territories, or a District of the United States, or seek to punish in any way clergy or other officiants who solemnize the union of same-sex couples,” Cogburn wrote.

Cogburn also directly addressed the flurry of legal filings in the case before him and others, noting that the rule of law — not political or moral agendas — take precedent.

“The issue before this court is neither a political issue nor a moral issue,” Cogburn wrote. “It is a legal issue and it is clear as a matter of what is now settled law in the Fourth Circuit that North Carolina laws prohibiting same sex marriage, refusing to recognize same sex marriages originating elsewhere, and/or threatening to penalize those who would solemnize such marriages, are unconstitutional.”

Wake County’s and Buncombe County’s registers of deeds offices have remained open late and are issuing marriage licenses. Reports from Wake County, where the register of deeds office is staying open until 9 p.m., indicate that dozens of same-sex couples have already wed. Marriages are also being performed in Asheville.

Equality North Carolina praised the decision to open marriage to same-sex couples.

“Today’s ruling allowing loving, same-sex couples to marry across North Carolina is a historic moment for our state,” said Chris Sgro, executive director of Equality North Carolina. “With it, we celebrate with so many North Carolinians who have worked tirelessly over decades to change hearts, minds, and unequal laws in the state we call home. Love won and the barriers to it are done.”

Casey and Amanda getting married by Rev. Bovee-Kemper. #DayOneNC pic.twitter.com/kfRLnj44Kw — Southern Equality (@SouthernEqual) October 10, 2014

A crowd of couples and supporters had gathered at the Mecklenburg County Register of Deeds office all day Friday, though most had left after a federal judge in Greensboro issued orders punting his two cases into early next week.

But, Charlotte couple Joey Hewell, 34, and Scott Lindsley, 45, remained at the Mecklenburg office and joined supporters and advocates in celebrating the news from Judge Cogburn.

Hewell and Lindsley weren’t able to receive their license on Friday, Cogburn’s order coming after Mecklenburg Register J. David Granberry closed his office. On Wednesday, the two had been allowed to submit a marriage license application shortly before the office closed. Granberry told the couple his office will open again on Monday morning, when he’ll finally able to complete and process their application today.

Mecklenburg will grant licenses on Monday

The Mecklenburg County Register of Deeds office closed as normal at 5 p.m. on Friday evening. The county, however, issued a statement shortly thereafter announcing they would begin issuing licenses to all couples on Monday at 8 a.m.

Mecklenburg County is encouraging couples to file their application online before coming to the office to complete the process.

“It is strongly recommended that applicants take advantage of the online application to reduce office processing time,” the county said.

The statement continued: “The application includes a disclaimer page. Residents should simply click ‘agree’ to go directly to the license page. Couples are instructed to ignore gender references on the online application. The printed versions of the license in the office will refer to the couple as Applicant 1 and Applicant 2.”

Conservatives vow to fight

Those opposed to same-sex marriage were not pleased with Cogburn’s order on Friday.

Republican state House Speaker Thom Tillis and Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger issued a joint statement on Friday and said they’ll continue to fight to uphold the ban.

“While we recognize the tremendous passion on all sides of this issue, we promised to defend the will of North Carolina voters, because they – not judges and not politicians – define marriage as between one man and one woman and placed that in our state constitution,” the statement read, according to WRAL.

Tillis and Berger added: “It is disappointing this decision was made without North Carolina’s law receiving its day in court, and we will continue to work to ensure the voice of the voters is heard.”

The North Carolina Values Coalition, the primary proponent of North Carolina’s anti-LGBT amendment in 2012, issued a scathing statement after 9 p.m. on Friday. The group called Cogburn an “activist judge” who overrode “the will of the people.”

“We take heart in knowing that marriage – that defined by God – can never truly be redefined,” said Tami Fitzgerald, the group’s director.

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Religious leaders, too, objected to the legal developments.

“We come from a Christian world view and a Christian world view is that God designed marriage as between a man and a woman and He gets to define it no matter what the Supreme Court thinks,” Dr. Richard Land, the president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary in Matthews, told NBC Charlotte.

“When I was a teenager homosexual behavior was illegal much less homosexual marriage,” said Land, who long worked for the Southern Baptist Convention. “Most of our involvement has been the result of courts trying to alter the social equation.”

McCrory: State complying with order

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory has said his administration will comply with Cogburn’s order.

“The administration is moving forward with the execution of the court’s ruling and will continue to do so unless otherwise notified by the courts,” he said. “Each agency will work through the implications of the court’s ruling regarding its operations.”

Even as McCrory and state government moves forward, the legal fight over the amendment could continue.

Greensboro U.S. District Court Judge William Osteen will still consider additional briefs to be submitted Monday in two related cases.

Ruling from Cogburn unexpected

Cogburn’s order on Friday came as a surprise to observers, who had been focused on two cases in North Carolina’s Middle District. That judge has given plaintiffs until Monday to respond to several questions.

Cogburn issued his order just minutes after most thought a ruling opening legal marriage wouldn’t be issued until Monday or Tuesday.

The late-breaking order came even after Tillis and Berger attempted to intervene in the case, including a request for an eight-day extension in the case. Cogburn denied their motions, submitted by attorneys with connections to the anti-LGBT National Organization for Marriage — the same group which contributed more than $400,000 to the 2012 campaign to successfully pass the anti-gay marriage ban.

In denying the GOP’s intervention request, Cogburn also rejected GOP arguments that North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper had failed to adequately represent the state.

“Based on a full consideration of all the factors, the court finds that the proposed intervenors’ interests are, have been, and continue to be adequately represented by the North Carolina Attorney General,” Cogburn wrote.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday had declined to hear an appeal from the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and several others, essentially paving the way for legal same-sex marriages in North Carolina. In July, the Fourth Circuit overturned Virginia’s similar ban. All legal experts — including North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper — have said the Fourth Circuit’s decision is binding on North Carolina.

Couples and LGBT community members in Charlotte have planned on celebrating the victory at an interfaith service on Monday evening. Several plaintiffs from the United Church of Christ’s and other clergy members’ suit against the amendment are expected to attend. The service is slated for 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 13 at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 1900 The Plaza.

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Posted by Matt Comer Matt Comer previously served as editor from October 2007 through August 2015 and as a staff writer afterward in 2016.