The School of Social Work’s Diversity Committee hosted a discussion on Tuesday, Oct. 11, on the effects of the “Defense of Marriage Amendment.” The committee invited UNC School of Law Professors Maxine Eichner and Holning Lau to the School of Social Work to lead this discussion, which was held in the Tate-Turner-Kuralt Auditorium.
North Carolina residents will vote in May on a proposed Constitutional amendment that would make marriage between a man and a woman “the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state.” Eichner and Lau examined the effects of such an amendment on gay and lesbian couples and unmarried heterosexual couples, including the potential invalidation of domestic partner benefits, child custody visitation rights, trusts, wills, end-of-life directives and other agreements, as well as the potential invalidation of domestic violence protections for members of unmarried couples.
