what was known as Amendment One here that banned gay marriage based on
a statewide vote in 2012 based on a voter turnout of <35% of eligible voters.


From the NY Times:

U.S.
North Carolina’s Gay-Marriage Ban Is Challenged by Church

By MICHAEL PAULSON APRIL 28, 2014


In a novel legal attack on a state’s same-sex marriage ban, a liberal Protestant denomination on Monday filed a lawsuit arguing that North Carolina is unconstitutionally restricting religious freedom by barring clergy members from blessing gay and lesbian couples.

The lawsuit, filed in a Federal District Court by the United Church of Christ, is the first such case brought by a national religious denomination challenging a state’s marriage laws. The denomination, which claims nearly one million members nationwide, has supported same-sex marriage since 2005.

“We didn’t bring this lawsuit to make others conform to our beliefs, but to vindicate the right of all faiths to freely exercise their religious practices,” said Donald C. Clark Jr., general counsel of the United Church of Christ.


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/29/us/churchs-lawsuit-challenges-north-carolina-ban-on-same-sex-marriage.html?_r=0


And more religious groups have joined the suit:

http://www.wral.com/more-religious-groups-join-suit-to-overturn-nc-same-sex-marriage-ban/13698759/