The North Carolina legislature is expected to debate the anti-gay marriage bill that would add a same-sex marriage ban to the state Constitution. From Q-Notes comes this profile of the openly gay legislator who has become he de facto face of fighting the amendment.
Freshman Rep. Marcus Brandon (D-Guilford) was there. The state’s only openly gay legislator, Brandon had been present for Democrats’ press conference outlining their opposition to the amendment. Several anti-gay ministers had already gathered in the press room, awaiting their own press conference organized by House Majority Leader Rep. Paul Stam (R-Wake) and Speaker Pro Tem Rep. Dale Folwell (R-Forsyth). Heated, passionate words were exchanged, with Brandon stressing tolerance and equality and the pastors preaching division and exclusion.
“I take it very personally,” Brandon told qnotes via telephone. “I’m the only openly gay member of the legislature and there’s definitely a responsibility that comes with that when we’re talking about something so personal.”
Brandon said he found it moving that his Democratic colleagues stood up against the amendment.
“I think it’s very powerful for my colleagues to stand up and talk about democratic ideals and what they’ll defend, what we’ve always fought for,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s always about trying to move people from one place to the next.”
Though he didn’t ask for the privilege, Brandon has been the de facto face of the amendment debate for many at the legislature and across the state. Colleagues are looking to him for his guidance and LGBT citizens, both from within and outside his district, see him as “their” voice in Raleigh. He’s been sharing his personal story with his colleagues in attempts to move their frames of reference.
“I have tremendous respect for my Republican colleagues and I respect that this is a deeply-held belief for many of them,” Brandon said. “This conversation I’ve had with Republicans and even some Democrats is the same conversation that you have to have with family members when you come home trying to explain who you are, what you are and what that means. It’s a very similar conversation.”
Read more at Q-Notes. More news and action steps after the fold.
Notes from the press conference:
Both Hackney and Hall said the amendment was a threat to job creation and said it was the “wrong issue at the wrong time,” pointing to continued economic difficulties, recent hurricane damage and other challenges facing state lawmakers and government.
Hall said the amendment ran counter to lawmakers’ promises to create more business-friendly environments in the state and said it put up a “you are not welcome” sign on the state’s doors.
Rep. Grier Martin (D-Wake) also came out in opposition to the amendment. Invoking the impending repeal of the U.S. military’s anti-gay “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, Martin said the amendment would send the wrong message to and hurt LGBT-led military families, who will be able to serve openly and honestly after the policy’s full repeal is certified and goes into effect on Sept. 20. Martin also asserted that his constituents had sent him to Raleigh focus on jobs, not “divisive” social issues. Rep. Rick Glazier (D-Cumberland) added that the amendment could affect family law in unexpected ways, including negative impacts on adoption, medical treatment and other areas where laws on what constitutes a “relationship” or “domestic legal union” are ambiguous.
Action Steps
This first one is super easy and anyone can do it. Chris Hughes, a co-founder of Facebook and OFA social networking czar extraordinaire and a native of North Carolinia, has pledged to donate $10 to every Facebook "Like" of Equality North Carolina.
"Because there could not be a more critical time to support the work of Equality NC, my fiancé, Sean Eldridge, and I have pledged to donate $10 for each person who likes Equality NC's page on Facebook -- up to $10,000 -- to support the work of the organization between now and Tuesday. We hope that others will join us and contribute what they can of their time, energy, and resources to help defeat this anti-gay measure."
Please, go do that now, post it to you own Facebook wall and ask your friends to do so.
Hughes also penned An Open Letter to the North Carolina General Assembly warning them of the dire consequences this amendment may have on attracting high-tech businesses, like he built with Facebook.
"I’m writing today to express my deep concern and fervent opposition to the proposed anti-gay constitutional amendment, SB106/HB777....
Companies like Facebook, Google and Apple are the future of our global economy. ....
The next Facebook or Apple or Google could be created by another North Carolinian. Be mindful of how you treat them and their families."
In fact, the
overwhelming majority of Fortune 500 companies have some form of non-discrimination protection and/or partner benefits for their LGBT employees. Business knows discrimination is bad for business. Does North Carolina?
Equality North Carolina is holding a Candlelight Vigil for Equality on Monday evening in Charlotte:
9/9/2011 - On Monday, September 12, at 7 p.m., a coalition of pro-equality organizations, as well as supporters of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights from the Charlotte area, will convene for a candlelight vigil at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (1900 The Plaza), in Charlotte, N.C. The Charlotte Vigil for Equality, sponsored by statewide LGBT advocacy organization Equality NC, the Human Rights Campaign, and Charlotte coalition partners, is one of many anti-amendment vigils occurring simultaneously across the state on the evening of September 12. The vigils coincide with the opening day of a special state legislative session on constitutional amendments that could include a vote on House Bill 777/Senate Bill 106, the “anti-gay constitutional amendment.” Charlotte’s hour-long candlelight vigil will be immediately preceded by a half-hour press conference beginning at 6:15 p.m., featuring local speakers, including community and faith leaders, highlighting the negative impacts of North Carolina’s proposed anti-gay amendment—legislation that would ban same-sex marriage (as state already does), prohibit civil unions and strip domestic partner benefits.
A
Stop The Amendment Action Page is set up at ECN and a
link here from ENC's homepage can direct Carolinians to their legislators.
It would really be a shame if this ballot initiative cannot be headed off legislatively. Electoral prospects are not great, and the fight to defeat it would only serve to sap time and money and volunteers from North Carolina's progressive community that could go to better tasks moving the state of NC and the country forward in the 2012 elections.