STOP THE BILL!

Saturday, June 18th, 2011

STOP THE BILL!

Stop by the HRC & Equality North Carolina Booth at the Juneteenth Festival, Elizabeth City, NC
click to view flyer

On April 7, 2011 House Bill 777 was introduced to amend the constitution in the "Defense of Marriage." NC State law already limits marriage to opposite-sex couples. If the constitution is amended in this regard it will deny gay and lesbian couples access to marriage or any same-sex unions or forms of recognition such as civil union or domestic partnership.

Let us call this for what it is: "the anti-LGBT amendment or "the anti-gay amendment and an attack North Carolina’s LGBTQ Community.
This movement has been used in other states to take away private benefits such as health insurance and survival rights for LGBT couples.  The amendment would not only write the current discriminatory marriage law into the constitution, it would actually take away rights and responsibilities that are currently available to some couples. 
          
This anti-gay amendment is a distraction from the voters' priorities. The legislature was sent to Raleigh to tackle jobs, the economy, and the state budget, not to advance a divisive social agenda.

What are the key arguments against the amendment?

• Marriage is already denied same-sex couples by state law. The amendment doesn't change marriage in any way. It simply attacks LGBT North Carolinians and puts their basic rights up for a vote

• Amending the constitution is an extreme act, not a conservative one. Constitutions are designed to protect rights and not to take them away. The rights of a minority should never be put to a majority vote.

• The anti-gay amendment causes real harm. It harms couples who will be denied even the most basic protections and it harms vulnerable LGBT young people by sending a terrible message that their state and their neighbors consider them second-class citizens unworthy of basic dignity and fair treatment, a message which exacerbates the epidemic of LGBT young people committing suicide.

What can YOU do?
Help us send a message to the people in your community to complete postcards and write letters to their legislators in opposition to the anti-gay amendment. These post cards will be available at the ENC booth, it only takes 5 minutes to complete one or 10 minutes to write a letter – templates will be provided to assist you.

NC LGBTQ Community and Allies, can you assist in hosting letter writing parties in Bertie, Gates, Hertford, Perquimans, Northampton, Vance or Warren County? Let us know.
 

IF YOU WISH TO VOLUNTEER WITH ENC/HRC FOR THIS EVENT PLEASE EMAIL Akil@EqualityNC.org