At a noon press conference in Raleigh on Tuesday, North Carolina House Majority Leader Paul “Skip” Stam said that laws that bar polygamy and incest are the same as laws that ban gay marriage. Stam was joined by fellow GOP legislators to push for a constitutional amendment on the 2012 ballot banning marriage for same-sex couples.

In audio captured by On Top Magazine, Stam responded to a question from a reporter who questioned the amendment as a government overreach, an argument often made by Republicans in opposition to other issues such as health care and the environment.

Stam said, “Well, 90 percent of all laws affect people’s lives, so that’s an argument without any content to it. … We prohibit adult incest, we prohibit polygamy. What would be their answer to that? We’re involved in people’s lives. That’s a slogan without analysis.

“What I’m saying is,” Stam went on to explain, “you cannot construct an argument for same sex-marriage that would not also justify philosophically the legalization of polygamy and adult incest.”

Republican leadership in North Carolina are pushing for a vote — on whether to put the marriage amendment on the ballot — on Sept. 12 when the General Assembly convenes a special session to take up various constitutional amendments. The press conference on Tuesday marked the latest push in that campaign.