N.C. Senate Votes to Override Governor's Veto of Marriage Opt-Out Bill

North Carolina's Senate voted this week in favor of overriding Gov. Pat McCrory's veto of a bill that would allow public officials to opting out of performing same-sex marriages.

The Republican-led Senate voted 32-16 to override McCrory's veto on Monday, and the bill now goes back to the House of Representatives, also Republican-controlled, to override McCrory's veto.

According to Reuters, Senate leader Phil Berger said that government workers' First Amendment rights should continue to be protected despite the legalization of same-sex marriage in the state.

"If the federal courts say they will be performed, they will be performed," Berger said Monday. "But if someone takes a job, they don't park their First Amendment rights at the door. They are entitled to exercise those rights."

North Carolina Gov. McCrory previously released a statement saying that although he personally opposes same-sex marriage, he doesn't believe public officials should be allowed to opt out of performing same-sex marriages.

"I recognize that for many North Carolinians, including myself, opinions on same-sex marriage come from sincerely held religious beliefs that marriage is between a man and a woman," McCrory said.

"However, we are a nation and a state of laws. Whether it is the president, governor, mayor, a law enforcement officer, or magistrate, no public official who voluntarily swears to support and defend the Constitution and to discharge all duties of their office should be exempt from upholding that oath; therefore, I vetoed Senate Bill 2," the governor added.