North Carolinians strongly think that same sex marriage should be illegal. They also strongly oppose the proposed amendment to write that into the state's constitution.
Voters' view about expanded rights for gay couples could be well described as 'complicated.' 61% think gay marriage should be illegal to only 31% who believe that it should be legal. Republicans (86/7) and independents (55/35) are both pretty strongly against it and even Democrats (47/44) are only narrowly supportive of legalized gay marriage.
However when you throw civil unions into the mix as an option 54% of voters support legally recognizing gay couples (25% for marriage, 29% for civil unions) while only 43% are opposed to any sort of legal recognition at all. Voters appear to be more hung up on appending the word 'marriage' to the relationships of gay couples than they are on actually giving those couples the same legal rights as heterosexual couples. Democrats (68/27) and independents (63/35) both strongly support extending more rights to same sex couples.
Voters say that if the election was today they would vote against the marriage amendment by a 55/30 margin. That 55% figure opposed to the amendment closely tracks the 54% of voters who support legally recognizing gay couples. The opposition to the marriage amendment holds true across party lines. Democrats (63/23), independents (52/35), and even Republicans (47/37) say they would vote against it at this time.
It's not like North Carolina voters have become big fans of gay marriage all the sudden. They just don't seem to think putting it in the state constitution is necessary, especially if that precludes giving gay couples more legal rights short of the ability to get 'married.'