North Carolina Anti-Gay Amendment Thwarted

[racaulk]

(Raleigh, North Carolina) For the third year gay foes in the North Carolina legislature have failed to get traction for a proposed amendment that would ban same-sex marriage.

The North Carolina General Assembly adjourned its 2006 session on the weekend without voting on a bill that would amend the state constitution to block gay marriages in the state.

The move makes North Carolina the only state in the South to stop such an amendment in legislature.

Had the measure passed in addition to banning same-sex marriage the proposed amendment would have blocked civil unions, domestic partnership or any other form of relationship recognition for unmarried couples.

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Link: http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/07/073106ncban.htm

[Jamastiene]

1. Good.

I complain about my hometown a lot, but I have to give cheers to Gov. Easley and many in our legislature here in NC. We do have some really progressive people up in Raleigh. Raleigh is a nice town that I believe influences our locals when they are legislating there, IMHO.

[moose65]

2. There's no real "push" here for the amendment

In fact, I don't think I've seen a thing about it in newspapers. We don't seem to have any of those hate groups that are constantly lobbying legislatures in other states. Maybe it's because NC's legislature is controlled by Democrats and they know it has little chance of passing. But, no Republicans have made it an issue, either. Makes me kinda proud of NC, that we're the only Southern state without an amendment.

[Jamastiene]

3. Don't fool yourself too much.

We have 35 hate groups in North Carolina (one of the highest in the nation) and yes, they are active.

http://www.splcenter.org/intel/map/hate.jsp

If you'll notice, almost every state has one, but NC has TONS of them.

[moose65]

4. Oh, I know we have hate groups..

I looked at the list. Most of these are so far to the right, though, that they really couldn't "lead" a charge for an anti-gay amendment. For the amendments to succeed, they have to have the backing of "mainstream" groups and politicians. Let me put it this way: if we read the headline "KKK pushes for gay marriage ban" we say "Ho-hum, there they go again." But if we read "NC Republican party makes gay marriage ban the center of their platform" then we'd better get busy to stop them.