The minority leader of the North Carolina House called the marriage amendment "hate speech."  The Democrat caucus also announced that somehow codifying current law into the constitution would be bad for business (we're hoping the Democrats in NC have a better business plan than gay marriage!).

Meanwhile a group of black ministers called out those who equate support for gay marriage with the civil rights movement:

Supporters of the amendment counter that states that already have prohibitions of same-sex marriage in their constitutions aren't seeing businesses leave for other states because of that issue.

Several black ministers who spoke at a later news conference said it's contrary to the Christian faith and the Bible for same-sex couples to marry. They called on the Legislature to let the public vote on adding the prohibition to the constitution to protect the institution of marriage. The Rev .Johnny Hunter of Cliffdale Community Church in Fayetteville said gay rights activists have offended black people by equating the efforts to support gay marriage with civil rights activities in the 1960s to remove racism from the law books.

"Blacks know what real discrimination is all about," said Hunter, referring to slavery and Jim Crow-era laws that preventing blacks from voting. "They're disrespecting ... the foot soldiers of the civil rights movement." --Associated Press