House Bill 256

The Act for a Unified Marriage Code and Licensing most commonly referred to as House Bill 256 or HB256, was a Carolinian bill which would have limited the marriage rights for same-sex couples. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives on October 17, 2016 and by the Senate on October 18, 2016, before being vetoed by President Nikki Haley. The bill failed to receive a 2/3 vote in both chambers of Congress in order to override Haley's veto. Proponents for the bill said that it created an equal standard across the nation, that is accepted by most Carolinians. However, opponents called the law extreme discrimination, and bigotry.

The contentious element of the bill was that it would ban same-sex marriage throughout all Carolinian states, and significantly reduced funding for states that did not comply. This would have overridden the historical normal on marriage, which allowed the states to decide laws regarding same-sex marriage. In particular the bill would have reversed the partial legalization in Florida, which was passed in July of 2016.

The bill also prevented states and municipalities from setting anti-discrimination laws regarding LGBT related persons, and would have nullified any prior legislation.

The bill caused a large amount of dissent, both domestically and internationally. Protests took place throughout Carolina while the law was being debated, and many people drew parallels between House Bill 256 and the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act (HB2) in North Carolina. In particular the bill caused a large amount of backlash within the Alliance of Independent Nations.

Florida Recognition of Same-Sex Civil Unions
In July of 2016, Florida passed a bill which allowed for the recognition of same-sex civil unions. To date, Florida is the first and only state to recognize same-sex civil unions. However, in September and October, the Warsiene Islands also considered recognizing civil unions, in a bill which was eventually overturned.

House Bill 256
House Bill 256 was proposed by Mississippi Representative Harry LePont (S-MS). The bill was introduced into committee that same-day and cleared committee with little revisions on October 10th, 2016. The vote in committee was largely along party lines, with two Dixiecrats and five Democrats voting for the bill, while three Progressive's voted against the bill. The speed in which the bill cleared committee hearings raised some suspicions in the media about both Democrats and Dixiecrats trying to fast track the bill before the Warsiene Islands could pass their bill regarding civil unions.

The bill was introduced to the House floor on October 15 and the debate on the bill lasted three days. Discussion was suspended for a brief period on October 16. The law was passed at 10:57 PM on October 17 taking a total of 10 days from when it was introduced to committee to passing the House of Representatives. 191 of the 203 Democratic Party members voted in favor of the bill, all 42 Dixiecrat members voted in favor of the bill, along with 12 Progressive members. 143 members of the Progressive Party voted against the bill, along with 12 members of the Democratic Party. Two progressive members were excused absent.

On October 18th, the bill made its way to voting on the Senate Floor, fast-tracked by Democrats and Dixiecrats alike. The senate debate lasted approximately 8 hours, after it's 10:50 AM debut on the senate floor. The senate initially capped filibusters at 15 minutes, however Senator Miranda Hodges talked for approximately 27 minutes without interruption. The law was passed around 6:25 PM at a 19-8 margin, along party lines. Both Dixiecrat Senators voted for the bill, along with all 17 Democrats. All eight votes against were from members of the Progressive Party.

Veto and Revoting
When the bill passed the Senate, President Haley appeared to be on the fence about signing the bill or not. She descibed it as unnecessary, however did not provide much further commentary about the bill.

On October 18, a bomb threat from an unspecified nation was received by the Savanne Police Department, saying that their was a bomb unboard Palmetto Force 1. The caller threatened that if President Haley did not make a speech denying her support for HB256 within 30 minutes, the plane explode. While the Secret Service, CIA, and FBI believed the call was a hoax, the plane landed at the Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. The staff was evacuated off the plane and into the Bolivian Air Force section of the airport, while army agents from Bolivia and Carolina searched the aircraft. After not finding any explosives, the plane continued to its destination in Santa Catarina. Five men were arrested in Kazakhstan in relation with the call, and were extradited to Carolina.

Following a summit with President Arthur Boehm of Santa Catarina, Haley announced in Desterro that she had decided to veto House Bill 256. By this time, the bill was causing a negative reaction throughout the world, especially in the more liberal Alliance of Independent Nations. Haley stated her reasons for vetoing the bill was potentially negative economic consequences, such as those incurred in North Carolina due to House Bill 2, along with state's rights and international pressure. The bill was official vetoed on October 21, once Haley returned from Santa Catarina.

The Bill returned to the Senate for revoting, where it passed 16-11, however failed to meet the two thirds requirement to overturn the Presidential veto. Two members of the Democratic Party, Thom Tillis and Bob Corker both withdrew support from the bill. Tillis reported that he withdrew support because he believed that the economic damage occurring in North Carolina would spread to all of Carolina should the bill pass. Corker reportedly said that he rethought the bill and believed it infringed on state's rights, which he has avowed to protect. Due to the bill failing to receive the two thirds needed vote in the senate, the bill did not go back to the House of Representatives for revoting.

Public Demonstrations
In the 18 days that the bill was in the process of being passed, their were numerous public demonstrations against the bill in Carolina. On October 17, the same day that the bill passed the House of Representatives, thousands of people gathered in several cities including Savannah, Miami, Charlotte, Raleigh, Nashville, Atlanta, and Orlando to protest against the bill. Around 33,000 protesters gathered in front of the Capitol Building and Amstelveen Palace while the bill was being discussed by the Senate.

The Carolina Civil Liberties Union called for a week of protest on October 18 to protest the passage of the bill by Congress. Thousands of people gathered to support LGBT rights in major cities in Carolina. However following the veto of the bill on Monday most people had stopped protesting. Clashes with police forces and civilians became common, as many protests did not have a permit.

Jarraban
In echo to Lower Columbia's statement, Jarraban said that they supported the democratic process in Carolina, saying that their was no evidence that the democratic institutions had been compromised. Jarraban condemned Poemia's conducted following the passage of the bill.

Lower Columbia
Lower Columbia became the first Alliance of Independent Nations nation to support Carolina when it issued it's statement. The statement said that the government respected the democratic process of Carolina in regards to the bill. While saying that many private citizens may not agree with the bill, the government of Lower Columbia believed that any decision with wide scale support should be respected. Lower Columbia also urged fellow Alliance of Independent Nations members to do likewise.

Mikenstein
Mikenstein warned any members of the LGBT community against all but essential travel to Carolina following the passage of the bill. Following the senate revote, Mikenstein lifted the warning, however warned LGBT Mikensteinian citizens of strong levels of homophobia in the country.

New Duveland
Following the passage of the bill by the Senate, New Duveland issued a statement saying that while they respected the democratic institutions of Carolina they were disappointed with the outcome. New Duveland planned to issue a travel warning for LGBT New Duvelanders warning against homophobia in the country. Following the statement by Lower Columbia, New Duveland once again affirmed their support for the government of Carolina, in wake of the immense backlash from Poemia. Following President Haley's veto, New Duveland decided not to issue it's travel warning against Carolina.

Poemia
Poemia's response to the bill passing Congress was strong, and the two countries often clashed because of the response. Following the passage by the House of Representatives, Poemia became the first country to issue a statement, saying that they would continued to recognize same-sex couples who may have been brought into civil union in Florida. Poemia strongly condemned the actions of Carolina's government, which led to growing tensions between the two countries. Carolina requested Poemia should be withheld from joining the Cooperation of American Alliance Nations (CAAN), and Poemia withheld aid for victims of Hurricane Matthew. Following the passage by the Senate, Poemia proposed the Charta of Freedom to the Alliance of Independent Nations General Assembly, which above all, would have restricted Carolina from enacting House Bill 256. It also would have forced Carolina to recognize same-sex marriage as a result of its membership in the alliance. This caused many congressional leaders to urge Carolina to rethink it's position on the Alliance of Independent Nations, and two bills were proposed which would have exited Carolina from the alliance. The charta failed due to wide scale alliance support for Carolina's government, and was eventually abandoned by Poemia. Poemia reinstated it's Hurricane Matthew aid following the senate revote.

Santa Catarina
Santa Catarina issued a statement after the bill was passed by the senate saying that they were disappointed that Carolina's government was going against the liberties of its citizens. Prime Minister Max Schwartz repudiated the law, and said that he hoped for President Haley and President Boehm of Santa Catarina to solve the problem. The bill was reportedly a main item that was discussed at the meeting between President Haley and President Boehm. Haley announced that she would veto the bill following their meeting, leading many to believe Bohem helped Haley reach her conclusion.

Teiko
Following President Haley's veto announcement, Teiko issued a statement commending the democratic process in the non-passage of House Bill 256.

United States
Following the bill's passage in the House of Representatives, President Barack Obama stated that he was dissatisfied to see that Carolina was working backwards in regards to LGBT rights. President Obama held a meeting with President Haley in Washington D.C. on October 19th however said that the bill was not mentioned more than just a few quick words. Following the senate revote, Obama stated that he was pleased that the Carolinian government had stood with equality and state's rights in Carolina.