Breaking: North Carolina Passes Amendment to Ban Gay Marriage
Last edited Wed May 9, 2012, 02:54 AM - Edit history (2)
Source: AP / MSNBC
NC approves amendment on gay marriage
By MARTHA WAGGONER, Associated Press 5 minutes ago
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) North Carolina voters have approved a constitutional amendment defining marriage solely as a union between a man and a woman, making it the 30th state to adopt such a ban.
With 35 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday, unofficial returns showed the amendment passing with about 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent against.
In the days before the vote, members of President Barack Obama's cabinet expressed support for gay marriage and former President Bill Clinton recorded phone messages urging voters to reject the amendment.
Meanwhile, supporters ran their own ad campaigns and church leaders urged Sunday congregations to vote for the amendment. The Rev. Billy Graham was featured in full-page newspaper ads supporting the amendment.
Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jMc52sVsFTFWWyrhx6CZZlko3Omg?docId=3e14159cd8044b958b3d26ef8e32c0d4
Oh, I am so proud of my idiot state tonight.
Unconstitutional AND bigoted to boot.
http://www.prop8trialtracker.com/2012/05/07/north-carolina-prop-8-backers-responsible-for-anti-gay-amendment-1s-broad-language/
North Carolina: Prop 8 backers Alliance Defense Fund responsible for anti-gay Amendment 1's broad language
May 7, 2012
By Scottie Thomaston
The language of North Carolinas Amendment 1 that the only domestic legal union that will be valid or recognized in North Carolina is exceptionally broad and incredibly unclear. The ballot language is also unprecedented and undefined in North Carolina law. Since the proponents of the amendment went forward with the proposed amendment language, questions have been raised often about whether the amendment will eliminate protections against domestic violence for those in domestic partnerships. The statute relied upon in domestic violence cases uses a defined set of recognize(d) relationships. But the amendment clearly changes North Carolina law to only recognize one type of relationship: marriage between a man and a woman. And even research linked on the Vote For Marriage NC site the website of the proponents admits the amendment will ban civil unions and domestic partnerships. This will eliminate all the rights associated with currently existing domestic partnerships, including childrens health insurance.
It didnt have to be this way:
This weekend, (NC House Majority Leader) Stam finally explained (why the amendment's language is so broad and unclear) to the Fayetteville Observer who reported it this way. Stam, the Raleigh lawmaker, said he wanted a more narrowly worded amendment but was overruled by national experts he identified as the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal advocacy group.
The Alliance Defense Fund is a leader in pushing anti-gay initiatives. They helped put Proposition 8 on the ballot. In fact, they fought to make Proposition 8′s language unclear:
[div class="excerpt"]Having lost its legal battle in May, the ADF has since redirected its efforts to guaranteeing Prop 8′s passage in November. Specifically, the group has attempted to finagle the initiatives language, controlling how it will be read by voters at the ballot box. In early August, ADF lawyers filed an appeal with the court to reverse state Attorney General Jerry Browns decision that changed the words limit on marriage to eliminates right of same-sex couples to marry in Prop 8′s title. While the modification is much clearer as to the initiatives true intent, ADF Senior Counsel Joseph Infranco seemed to realize that such clearly worded language would turn off moderate voters. By arguing that election ballot titles should be neutral and not intentionally prejudice voters, while at the same time advocating for vaguer language, Infranco perhaps revealed his own suspicion that Prop 8 must be misrepresented in order to pass. However, the court denied the appeal, affirming Browns new wording.
And there is a reason for their desire to make the language as vague as possible:
[div class="excerpt"]The authors just dont believe that same-sex marriage is wrong, they believe that it leads to polygamy, endogamy(the marriage of blood relatives), bestiality and child marriage, comments by the way that Stam himself made during the legislative debate last year.
MORE AT LINK
http://www.wral.com/news/political/page/10991843
Response to Hissyspit (Original post)
Post removed
PFunk
(876 posts)Because by doing it 'his way', i.e. catering to one group (blacks) over the other (gays) he loses support from the other and drive a big wedge between blacks & gays in the democratic party that may take years to repair (not good).
Which is want the republicans want
Response to PFunk (Reply #3)
Post removed
JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)Go back to free republic.
Fearless
(18,421 posts)Poster has been PPRed.
yardwork
(61,737 posts)Urban areas voted against the amendment. It was rural, white, Protestant voters who passed this amendment.
A wise Man
(1,076 posts)Black churches does not support Gay marriages. They use common sense not political judgements or favortism.
Ruby the Liberal
(26,219 posts)Black churches use "common sense" not "political judgments or favoritism".
What in blue blazes is that supposed to mean?
Edit - nevermind. Thanks Skinner.
nolabear
(42,001 posts)PFunk
(876 posts)as of right now the repugs have a perfect issue to hit the dems with unless something is done to change that.
I have issues buying that.
Why would one minority group that had to fight for their own rights begrudge another minority group of equal rights? I get the whole Christian thing, but then why be Democratic? Abortion supporting liberals and all?
rexcat
(3,622 posts)the black communities around Ohio voted overwhelmingly to adopt the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in Ohio. The black community, along with the republican party overwhelmingly passed the amendment. It has been well documented that the black community does not support gay rights. It is too bad but that is the way it is.
I don't know how to frame this issue so that the black community will reevaluate their position. Maybe there needs to be more dialog with the black community when they have issues by saying that we don't know if we can vigerously support their cause de jour because they don't support our cause de jour just as a point for the black community to think about what is important to them. I think that I can be assured that the conservatives are not going to support the black community in too many ways. That said I don't think it would be in the best interest of the liberals and progressives to abandon the black community over this issue. T
he black community needs to realize that taking away civil rights from one group is not the way to go! This is a tough issue because of the prejudices within the black community toward the GLBT community.
yardwork
(61,737 posts)The head of the state NAACP, who is also a minister, came out very strongly against the amendment. So did many other black leaders.
Fundamentalist churches were the driving force behind this amendment. The leaders of the amendment were all white. White men introduced the amendment to the state legislature. White men and women led the statewide efforts to pass it, supported by money from national anti-gay organizations that are all headed by white people.
The National Organization for Marriage - a virulently homophobic organization - has been revealed to have had a strategy for years to pit black voters against gay voters. We're on to them now. This kind of divisiveness is not going to work this time.
I know what the people who did this to me in my state look like. I know their faces. They are all white.
but how did the predominately black precincts vote in the state? I can't find any information on this as of this afternoon on the internet. Once this information is available then we can have a dicussion.
unc70
(6,123 posts)Sad to say, but true. It was probably almost as much rural as it was racial, but first analyses indicate that was a big difference vs the Obama vote in 2004.
My son will be marrying his partner in another state.
rexcat
(3,622 posts)I don't think things have changed that much as far as those who go out and vote. I saw today on MSNBC that 2/3 of blacks voted for the amendment in NC. The large metro areas where you would expect to see more liberals voted against the amendment in NC.
Eventually things will change and these laws will be overturned but I don't see anything happening in the near term. There is an initiative in Ohio this year to get the issue (repeal of the constitutional amendment) back on the ballot for the general election but they are being fought at every turn, both by the religious extremists, teabaggers and the republican party in the state. There appears to be a lot of money coming in from out of state to stifle the measure. Without the black vote it is not going to happen. Hispanics are another problem with the equal marrigae issue but they don't play a significant factor in Ohio.
yardwork
(61,737 posts)I will repeat what has been stated here - this vote broke down by rurality and being a member of a conservative church.
Overwhelming majorities of North Carolinians living in rural areas who belong to conservative churches voted for this amendment. I am certain that that will be true across all ethnicities. Yes, black people in rural areas who belong to fundamentalist churches voted for the amendment, as did their white neighbors. And yes, in urban areas where there are conservative historically black churches, we're going to see those congregations supporting the amendment. We're also going to see lots of progressive diverse congregations overwhelmingly opposed, and they phonebanked and worked against the amendment. I saw them.
Majorities or near majorities of people living in urban areas voted against the amendment.
If we had a way to look at the numbers, I would guess that near 100% of atheists and agnostics voted against the amendment, and near 100% of people belonging to fundamentalist Protestant churches and conservative Catholic dioceses voted in favor. We have relatively few Jewish, Muslim, and Hindi people in North Carolina and the vast majority of them are in urban areas and I'm going to guess that most of them are liberals who opposed.
You can go ahead and try to start trouble between gay people and black people - a la the NOM strategy - all you like, but we are not buying. I stand with my gay black brothers and sisters who don't need this kind of divisive crap.
rexcat
(3,622 posts)and where the fuck did I say to start "crap" between the blacks and gays. Get a fucking life!!!!!!!
on edit: my POV is to challange those who are socially conservative. I will challenge anyone who will not support those who do not support same sex marriage. Bigotry and intolerance is not a value that I will support in any way.
yardwork
(61,737 posts)rexcat
(3,622 posts)I am glad the ingnore function works on DU3.
FBaggins
(26,778 posts)He knew it was going to lose and lose pretty big. His advisors likely figure there's no point in expending political capital and become part of the story in a big loss.
Jamaal510
(10,893 posts)Also, it's probably more than just Black voters who supported the ban.
Change has come
(2,372 posts)That jackass was trying to start a fight between black people and gay people. This happens every time we lose a vote like this.
Liberal_Stalwart71
(20,450 posts)I'm also from the South. We have quite a bit of work to do to get our black and brown brothers and sisters to come aboard, but I do think things are slowly changing. I tell you that Cory Booker is a HERO for what he is doing in Newark to educate black clergy on this issue.
We must do our part as well.
Note: There are people out there who will blame black Americans for the failure of the issue, but the black American population is so small. I hope that people will not scapegoat us.
obamanut2012
(26,165 posts)DURHAM D
(32,617 posts)roguevalley
(40,656 posts)allowed to vote for civil rights, nothing would have changed.
This impacts single people who are together. Get ready to become a nonperson too, all of you living together out of wedlock in this state.
DLine
(397 posts)I think the county by county map tells the tale. The larger cities and college towns rejected it. Unfortunately I am in a green county.
http://www.wral.com/news/political/page/10991843/
LonePirate
(13,431 posts)LarryNM
(493 posts)They just enjoy piling on and would vote for a hundred redundant amendments against it if they could.
richmwill
(1,326 posts)...You had to know North Carolina would be one of the "Well, our Pastor told us how we should vote so we're gonna follow what he says" states. (Episcopal families excused from the above statement)
ncgrits
(916 posts)JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)meat.
This nonsense would not have passed in a real election cycle.
The GOP knew that in a low turn out primary, they could get this nonsense passed.
totodeinhere
(13,059 posts)important enough for them to get off their fat asses and go out and vote? Why is it that only the bigots seem to care enough to go and and vote in elections like this? I am totally disgusted. I'll tell you what. If I were a NC voter I would have gone out to vote for human rights even if I had to crawl to the polling place on my hands and knees.
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)voted for they are going to be horrified. NC already had an amendment against gay marriage. This goes deeper and uglier. This sounds like Sharia Law dba Amendment One. What I understand is that a man and a women who is not married can not live together, and insurance coverage for some children will be forfeited, and protection for domestic violence will be overturned.
Blacks thru churches have been taught they gay marriage is against the bible. Prop 8 here in Cali, the Mormom church and other religious groups poured in a hell of a lot of money and a lot of people canvassed the streets, churches, etc. Misinformed information was also spewed out orally as well as thru media and fliers.
This is what apparently have happened in NC. Hopefully a lawsuit will be filed.
Hissyspit
(45,788 posts)Fearless
(18,421 posts)Politicub
(12,165 posts)I was hoping for a vote for tolerance, but disdain for civil rights won the day in NC.
We have a long way to go before we have full equality, but we will never give up.
Hissyspit
(45,788 posts)Court needs to overturn it.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)We keep on.
We don't ever go away - no matter what they do.
cstanleytech
(26,342 posts)MNBrewer
(8,462 posts)Bolo Boffin
(23,796 posts)Attendees should be encouraged to purchase as little as possible, unless the establishment is flying a rainbow flag.
MNBrewer
(8,462 posts)Good luck to the Democratic Party Power Structure in avoiding the marriage equality issue!!! LOL! Do we have a perfect storm to make the Democrats FINALLY choose a side?
Hissyspit
(45,788 posts)gauguin57
(8,138 posts)That's the Triangle (Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Durham). Where you see lots of liberal bumper stickers in the parking lots! I always love visiting that blue oasis in a sea of red.
Bolo Boffin
(23,796 posts)Coming as I do from the bright blue ribbon in the middle of crimson red Alabama, I can understand the frustration a small section of the state can have with the rest of the knuckleheads out there.
Alcibiades
(5,061 posts)Mecklenburg, Wake, Durham and Orange probably equal about 50 other counties in population. We just got decimated by the rural counties.
Politicub
(12,165 posts)They absolutely need to move the convention.
MNBrewer
(8,462 posts)LOL! JK... Never gonna happen with Obama POTUS.
Jamastiene
(38,187 posts)Just don't buy anything on the way to the convention if you are driving, until you get to Mecklenburg County where Charlotte is.
I'll be banned if I say that. But this is all coming from one single source, and its totem is a method of execution.
Smilo
(1,944 posts)gay and didn't bother reading anything else.
Now they have gone against everyone who is living together - their rights no longer exist.
All because some silly, small minded people are so insecure in their sex and love lives they want to stop others from enjoying themselves.
bowens43
(16,064 posts)we are a state of bigots, religious nut jobs, sheet wearing goose steppers and hate mongers.....
BlueIris
(29,135 posts)Happened in the '04 election. It took three more years to get a civil unions bill through the legislature.
young_at_heart
(3,774 posts)But that is little comfort right now. When I saw Billy Graham's horrible full-page ad on Sunday I knew we were doomed.
_ed_
(1,734 posts)so they could fight a war to own other people. Bigotry is in the water there, I suppose.
Alcibiades
(5,061 posts)North Carolina only seceded after Fort Sumter, and was the second to the last state to do so. We had 50% turnout here in Durham, which is pretty good for a primary, considering the president is unopposed. We just got trounced in the rural counties.
There is bigotry here, but it's not in the water, not by a long shot. I have hated those George Wallace/Strom Thurmond/Jesse Helms sons of bitches my entire life, and so has everyone in my family, except for my aunt who married a Republican.
At any rate, bigotry doesn't flow from the faucet so much as the pulpit. We'll have to work our asses off again to turn NC blue again.
Jamastiene
(38,187 posts)Even my own county voted for it by 77%. I knew that Richmond County was homophobic, but I honestly hoped it wasn't quite THAT homophobic. Now I know exactly why I had such a hard time when I used to bother to try to make friends in this shithole of a county.
Thank God for the internet and DU. At least here (online), I can meet (virtual meet online) other North Carolinians who don't hate my kind.
Fuck, I feel SO thoroughly hated by the majority NC right about now.
Thank you to everyone who voted against it. It's good to know that not ALL of NC is full of homophobes.
yardwork
(61,737 posts)DURHAM D
(32,617 posts)That sucks.
Fearless
(18,421 posts)At last count... 828000 voters who voted against the measure. And many of these people were straight no doubt. There are good, loving, people in North Carolina and they and all of us are still going to fight for you!
humbled_opinion
(4,423 posts)Summed up very nicely ....
"they believe that it leads to polygamy, endogamy(the marriage of blood relatives), bestiality and child marriage,
This is the rabid RW at its worst....
What's next they will claim a slippery slope exists in the abortion debate because mothers are killing their children after they are born?
Convince enough people that afterbirth aborition is being championed by "Progressives" and the idiots that believe it will vote against pro choice ammendments and ask the SCOTUS to overturn Roe...
The problem IMHO is that the President is not out explaining in detailed form and championing a pro gay marriage position... He is way to vague on the issue and that allows the right to make it a wedge issue.
supernova
(39,345 posts)I want to apologize to my LGBTQ brothers and sisters for my idiot state tonight.
I've been gone all night. First chance I've had to see the election returns.
It's going to be an uphill fight. But we will get there. We need a federal law.
musical_soul
(775 posts)We will get this repealed. Either on a state level or a federal one. It's not right that civil rights is up for a vote. It's not right that people put banning gay marriage before healthcare, the strength of domestic violence laws, etc. We have to fight every inch of this amendment. I do mean all of it.
pinto
(106,886 posts)As expected. But sad and pointless in the long run. The tide is turning for us all.
Marksman_91
(2,035 posts)I mean, it happened with Prop. 8, what's stopping Amendment 1 from suffering the same fate?
Fearless
(18,421 posts)I don't think we know the particulars of it yet and how it will progress forward. Soon enough we'll know a better timeline for that I suspect. All I know is that where there's a will, there's a way. And we have will!
totodeinhere
(13,059 posts)votes been overturned by the courts. Of course Prop Hate in California has been tentatively overturned but that's the exception not the rule.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)What got Prop 8 overturned is some gay couples got married while it was legal, and Prop 8 did not dissolve those marriages. So you had a problem where some gay couples could (and were) marry, and others could not. That's unequal protection and thus unconstitutional.
Gay marriage has never been legal in NC, so it can't be overturned like Prop 8.
There's two ways this will be reversed:
1) A sufficiently large percentage of NC's residents pull their heads out of their asses and change their mind.
2) Gay marriage becomes legal in a sufficient number of other states, so unequal protection can be used to overturn it. This is how interracial marriage became legal in NC, stripping the relevant amendment from the NC constitution.
yardwork
(61,737 posts)North Carolina has now changed their constitution to specifically outlaw not only marriage for gay people, but any kind of domestic union or civil union that is not a marriage between a man and woman. The impact could be far-reaching, and overturning it will be very difficult. It would require a 4/5 majority in the state legislature and then a popular vote. Much more difficult to overturn than it was to pass.
DLine
(397 posts)...This guy!
queenjane
(296 posts)My county voted for it by 72%. Extremely fundie. I keep to myself here.
Behind the Aegis
(54,032 posts)Yeah for "state's rights" in regards to civil rights!
alp227
(32,068 posts)That's gotta be hypocritical. Really, I've read stories about rural men who've been arrested for bestiality with cattle. Remember when Rick Santorum predicted that gay marriage would lead to bestiality and pedophilia? Well, those things already happen even in the more homophobic places in the country.
Similarly, 4 years ago in my state, this kind of amendment was put before voters (Proposition 8).
The "yes" voting counties are light blue, "no" dark blue. Notice how the yes counties are the rural ones and the no counties are usually some coastal counties and the San Francisco Bay Area (San Francisco city has a notable gay community).
Suji to Seoul
(2,035 posts)due to the Mann Act.
Then all anti-miscegenation laws had to be overturned due to Loving v. Virginia.
Now homosexuals are getting their turn at the discrimination wheel.
I wonder where in the Bible it says Jesus hates all minorities?
For those in NC who voted for homosexual marriage, you deserve all the praise. The rest of you neanderthals needs to slither back up that rock and wait for your "intelligent design" to actually make you intelligent.
Troglodytes, all of them.
Evantually, my gay brothers and sisters, you will be treated equally. Don't lost faith.
24601
(3,964 posts)the law itself is race neutral. It has been used effectively used against men exploiting underage women.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mann_Act
RushIsRot
(4,016 posts)Those who voted for this must be downright ecstatic -- for now.
dmosh42
(2,217 posts)CRK7376
(2,204 posts)oh yeah that's my house idiot. Foxx is a disgrace and my district can't get rid of her. How shameful for NC to vote this way! Bumbed out in one of those green countries that voted for this abortion. Civil Rights in NC takes a step back once again.
dmosh42
(2,217 posts)azurnoir
(45,850 posts)decision and hope that my state does not pass a similar measure that will be on the ballot in 2012, but at least here in MN the Governor and Democratic party is vocally against it
http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Minnesota_Same-Sex_Marriage_Amendment_%282012%29
iandhr
(6,852 posts)... we still have a long way to go.
progressoid
(50,008 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)In Virginia, the same-sex marraige constitutional ban got slammed through (2006?) with very little resistance or attention...
carolinayellowdog
(3,247 posts)Was not surprised by the lopsided anti- margins in Orange and Durham counties. But some of the outlying Triangle area counties like Johnston were very strongly pro-amendment. Greensboro and Winston-Salem were anti- within the city limits, with white suburbanites in the outer parts of Guilford and Forsyth giving a slight margin to the pro faction. Likewise in Charlotte, Mecklenburg's slight anti- margin reflects a much higher percentage within the city limits, diluted by suburban parts of the county.
4th law of robotics
(6,801 posts)oops, maybe should have read what you voted on.
Heh.