Wednesday, April 4, 2012

North Carolina's Amendment 1: What You Should Know

"Constitutional amendment to provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State."

That is the actual text of the law in question. There is just over a month's time until North Carolina's Amendment 1 will be put to the state's voters (the vote will take place on May 8th). Recent reports have said that most North Carolinians are against the amendment...once they know what it actually does. Unfortunately, many of those very same reports say that a large swath of voters DO NOT know what the amendment actually does. Some even think that it legalizes/recognizes same-sex unions in the state. So, before voters head to the polls to vote on this amendment, here is what you need to know about this law.

-Amendment 1 constitutionally bans the recognition of same-sex unions (which is already done statutorily).
-Amendment 1 constitutionally bans the recognition of same-sex domestic partnerships AND civil unions
-Amendment 1 constitutionally bans the recognition of OPPOSITE-SEX domestic partnerships and civil unions.
-Amendment 1 will harm victims of domestic abuse by invalidating domestic abuse/stalking laws (which happened in Ohio).
-Amendment 1 has been denounced by some of the very politicians who voted for it in the legislature.
-Amendment 1's author is on record as predicting that, if passed, it will be overturned within 2 decades.
-Amendment 1is bad for North Carolina's economy as stated by an executive from Bank of America (head-quartered in Charlotte, NC).
-Amendment 1 is not conservative because it makes government more intrusive in people's lives.
-Amendment 1 will harm families, children, and the elderly by making them ineligible for various legal/financial benefits.


In other words, this law has zero redeeming qualities, not only because of its obvious homophobia, but also because it was so very poorly written and rushed through the state's legislature. The effects of this law will go far beyond the LGBT community and potentially harm thousands upon thousands of other North Carolinians. You can find out even more about the negative effects of this mockery of democracy here:

If you have friends, family, coworkers, or whomever in the state of North Carolina, help to get the word out that they need to vote against this legislation. Every vote will count and every voice needs to be heard.

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