AN ACT to ensure domestic violence protective orders are available for same‑sex couples.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 50B‑1(b) reads as rewritten:

(b)      For purposes of this section, the term personal relationship means a relationship wherein the parties involved:involved either:

(1)        Are current or former spouses;spouses.

(2)        Are persons of opposite sex who live together or have lived together;together.

(3)        Are related as parents and children, including others acting in loco parentis to a minor child, or as grandparents and grandchildren. For purposes of this subdivision, an aggrieved party may not obtain an order of protection against a child or grandchild under the age of 16;16.

(4)        Have a child in common;common.

(5)        Are current or former household members;members.

(6)        Are persons of the opposite sex who are in a dating relationship or have been in a dating relationship. For purposes of this subdivision, a dating relationship is one wherein the parties are romantically involved over time and on a continuous basis during the course of the relationship. A casual acquaintance or ordinary fraternization between persons in a business or social context is not a dating relationship.

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to domestic violence protective orders issued on or after that date.