Ensure Same-Sex Domestic Violence Prot. Order.

SB 637 amends North Carolina's domestic violence protective order law to ensure same-sex couples in dating relationships can access these protections. Currently, the law required dating relationships to be between people of "opposite sex" for protective orders to apply, excluding same-sex couples. The bill removes this gender requirement from the definition of a dating relationship in the statute. This change applies to all protective orders issued on or after the law's effective date, providing equal access to domestic violence protections regardless of sexual orientation.