An earlier version of this story identified Noor Kapoor as a UNC law professor. The story has been corrected to reflect this change.

A debate at the UNC School of Law today set two state legislators on either side of the Defense of Marriage amendment, arguing as lawmakers and as lawyers.

Students crowded into the room until it reached capacity, then moved into an overflow room to watch N.C. Reps. Paul Stam, R-Wake, and Rick Glazier, D-Cumberland, talk about the amendment.

The legislation passed through the N.C. General Assembly last week, drawing praise from several conservative religious organizations and criticism from those saying it is discriminatory.

Glazier said the amendment would restrict minority rights and go far beyond current legislation, which already bans same-sex marriages.

“This is setting the stage for acts of prejudice across the state on all fronts,” he said. “It is not a codification of existing law but a cast expansion, creating one of the most personally intrusive and extreme laws in the country.”

Stam, the majority leader of the N.C. House of Representatives, supports the bill as an affirmation of the traditional idea of marriage.

He said the amendment would make it harder for judges to overturn the same-sex marriage statute, protecting a law that has not seen a challenge since it passed in 1996.

“The program is to try to get judges to do it either in this state or in another state, to accomplish what could never be accomplished by representatives of the people,” he said.

If the amendment passes in the referendum in the May primary, he said it would show the majority’s support for heterosexual marriage and prevent a judge from defying it.

Students who attended the event overwhelmingly sided with Glazier, applauding his best arguments during the debate.

Many attendees carried signs protesting the legislation. Noor Kapoor, a graduate of UNC’s law school, displayed a sign that called the state “as bigoted as you think” for passing it through the legislature.

Andy Rodenbough, a law student who attended the debate, said he came to see people in the law profession speak on a political and legal issue.

“This amendment absolutely must be defeated,” he said.

In a reception after the debate, where the representatives spoke and answered questions from students, Glazier said the amendment is a “winnable battle.”

“But the students have to participate,” he said. “They’re the ones who will make the difference.”

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