Email from Equality NC

Dear XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX:

The 2011 Session of the North Carolina General Assembly began at noon today, and Equality North Carolina is there fighting for our values of freedom, family, and fairness.

I have to be honest with you: we have a tough year ahead of us.

The composition of the legislature has changed dramatically, and the leaders we have counted on to help us stop anti-equality bills are no longer in power. This makes the threat of an anti-LGBT constitutional amendment on marriage very real. There are right-wing legislators who want to write bigotry and discrimination into our state constitution, and it will be harder than ever to hold them at bay.

Here are two things you can count on:

1. Equality NC will fight the marriage discrimination amendment and other attacks on LGBT North Carolinians as hard as we can, with every smart strategy we believe will make a real difference. At the same time, we will continue to shepherd our resources wisely.
2. We can't do it without you.
Fighting the amendment and attempts to roll back our victories means we have to do things in new ways. We have to engage new partners. And we have to organize our fellow North Carolinians like never before.

Here are two ways you can help today:

1. Please make your most generous contribution to Equality NC. We need to raise $2,000 by January 31. If you can become a monthly donor, all the better. We need to be armed for the fight every day.


2. Register to attend this year's early Day of Action on Tuesday, February 15, and show your legislators that our state won't stand for discrimination.


It won't be easy. But if we stand together—if you stand with us today and in the months ahead—we can fight bigotry in the halls of the North Carolina General Assembly and at the ballot box and keep making our state better for all its people.

For equality,
Ian Palmquist, Executive Director

P.S. This fight will cost real money. Won't you please make your contribution to Equality NC today?

I agree this year will be a Year to remember… That is if the bigots that we elected to legislature get their way to have the citizens of North Carolina to vote on an Marriage Amendment to the State’s Constitution.

For Years this action has been block, as I have told both by the actions of ENC and The House Speaker. So much that this has almost been a non-issue for ENC. They want us to attend their day of Action, alright fine. We all know you can talk to these bigots till the damn cows come home it won’t change their minds on this issue.

Back in March of 2009, our local bigot group NC4Marriage held a Marriage Rally in Raleigh (where they bus them in by the hundreds), a very small group of local activist held a counter-protest (15 members). ENC was aware of this Rally and that there would be a counter-protest, they (ENC) didn’t want the community to attend this rally. However Ian and couple of members of ENC did show up at the Rally and had a nice little chat with a few of the NC4Marriage group..

Instead they (ENC) wanted us to Attend the Day of Action, for that year. Note that at the NC4Marriage Rally they ask their members to attend (action of day) as well. So we had those for and against marriage speaking to their Representatives the same day. So what was really accomplished that day, we may never know.

Now its 2011 and the GOP is in Charge in Raleigh, they are aiming to but Marriage Amendment to a vote by the citizens of NC.

The only problem I have with the Email that ENC sent out is that solicitation of funds should have been the second way to help, and register to attend the Day of Action should have been first.