Tami Fitzgerald is the executive director of the N.C. Values Coalition, and writes in the News Observer:

Groups that oppose the marriage amendment have said the amendment would discourage big corporations from locating in the state and might keep corporations from providing benefits to the partners of gay employees. Nothing could be more baseless. No study, economic or otherwise, has shown that the protection of marriage has yielded negative economic consequences to a state. The fact that 30 states have already protected marriage in their constitutions affirms it is good for business.

In fact, states that have protected marriage have better business rankings than states that have not or states that have redefined marriage to include gay couples. Eight out of the top 10 states ranked by Forbes magazine as the best states for business have a constitutional marriage amendment. North Carolina is one of two states in the top 10 that do not.

Each year, the American Legislative Exchange Council issues a report, "Rich States, Poor States," ranking the economic health of the 50 states. In 2011, all of the top 10 economically healthy states identified in the report have laws affirming that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, nine of them in their constitutions. By contrast, the 10 bottom-ranked states for economic health all undermine marriage in their laws.

This is no accident. Strong marriage laws lead to strong economies, because marriage produces future workers who are balanced, stable and healthy.

... Marriage doesn't prevent individuals from living how they want to live. It doesn't prohibit intimate relationships or curtail one's constitutional rights. But by specifically licensing marriage, the State of North Carolina attaches mothers and fathers to their children and to one another, providing the best known and documented environment for the rearing of our next generation.

This is the primary reason that government is in the marriage business and the reason marriage is worth protecting with a constitutional amendment.