A North Carolina court ruled that a state law denying same-sex couples protection from domestic violence was unconstitutional. According to the News & Observer, North Carolina had been the only state in the country that withheld the protections from those in same-sex relationships seeking protection from an abusive partner.
In a 2-1 opinion on Thursday (December 31), the North Carolina Court of Appeals said LGBTQ people in the state can't be prevented from receiving domestic violence protection orders that were already available to opposite-sex couples.
The ruling comes after a Wake County woman, M.E., sought a 50B protective order against an allegedly abusive former partner, which could result in an arrest if violated. However, the law states that 50B orders are limited to "persons of opposite sex who live together or have lived together" or "persons of the opposite sex who are in a dating relationship or have been in a dating relationship."
Instead, she could only receive a 50C no-contact order that doesn't carry the threat of arrest for violating the order. M.E. appealed the ruling, which led to Thursday's opinion.
In the majority opinion, Judge Linda McGee wrote that LGBTQ people have the same right to be protected in abusive relationships as opposite-sex couples.
"By telling Plaintiff that her existence is not as valuable as that of individuals who engage in 'opposite-sex' relationships, the State is not just needlessly endangering Plaintiff, it is expressing State-sanctioned animus toward her," McGee wrote.
Gov. Roy Cooper has been vocal about his support of M.E. in the past and has called the law preventing equal protection unconstitutional.
"This decision is a win for equality and inclusion and for our fight against domestic violence in North Carolina," said Gov. Cooper. "State laws should protect everyone equally, including our LGBTQ community, and this ruling makes that clear."
M.E. said she is hopeful Thursday's ruling will help others like her in the future.
"I'm glad the court is expanding protections from domestic violence to all couples, but this time of discrimination shouldn't have happened in the first place," M.E. said in a statement. "I'm hopeful that, moving forward, this ruling will help those who might find themselves in an already tough situation."
Because the ruling wasn't unanimous, the case could still be heard by the North Carolina Supreme Court.
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