page_title: Same-sex marriage in North Carolina
section_title: Domestic partnership
hierarchical_section_title: Same-sex marriage in North Carolina / Domestic partnership
context_page_description: Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in the U.S. state of North Carolina since October 10, 2014, when a U.S. District Court judge ruled in General Synod of the United Church of Christ v. Cooper that the state's denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples was unconstitutional. The state's Governor and Attorney General had acknowledged that a recent ruling in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court's decision not to hear an appeal in that case established the unconstitutionality of North Carolina's ban on same-sex marriage. State legislators sought without success to intervene in lawsuits to defend the state's ban on same-sex marriage.
  North Carolina had previously denied marriage rights to same-sex couples by statute since 1996. A state constitutional amendment that was approved in 2012 reinforced that by defining marriage between a man and a woman as the only valid "domestic legal union" in the state and denying recognition to any similar legal status, such as civil unions.
  Some cities in the state recognize domestic partnerships, and some make that status available to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples.
context_section_description: Some cities and counties in North Carolina recognize domestic partnerships. Registered domestic partners are legally recognized only by the jurisdiction in which they registered. The partnerships allow the extension of health benefits to employees and their domestic partners. Some cities in the state recognize both same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partnerships. According to 2010 census data, there were 228,000 North Carolina couples in domestic partnerships and 12 percent of those were same-sex couples.
  The cities and counties in North Carolina with domestic partner registries are:
caption: Map of North Carolina counties and cities that offer domestic partner benefits either county-wide or in particular cities.   City offers domestic partner benefits   County-wide partner benefits through domestic partnership   County or city does not offer domestic partner benefits