Against Amendment One

Last month, I discussed the utter pointlessness of late-in-the-game Presidential Primaries, namely North Carolina’s primary on Tuesday, May 8th. But the big story on May 8th isn’t who political-minded North Carolinians are voting for. It’s what we are (or are not) voting for that has the lame-stream all a-buzz.

There has been a great deal of talk all across the USA regarding North Carolina’s Amendment One – aka “The Marriage Amendment” – vote. Amendment One is only a single sentence long, but it’s one of the most controversial sentences in recent memory (right up there with “I can’t believe it’s not butter!” and “Casey Anthony is innocent!”).

Read the whole article at Political Ruck.us.

As I mentioned in a recent blog entry, I was very excited to see the Greenville City Council come out against the discriminatory amendment one! But that doesn't mean a lot unless we turn it into votes against the amendment. So I wanted to give a warm invite to anyone who can help us out with this on campus anti-amendment event at ECU on Tuesday. They only have on campus voting for 1 week, so we have to make the most of it!

Here's an inspiring video made by a UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication student about a 12-year-old NC Amendment One activist. He speaks the truth while popping marshmallows. Sweet and powerful.

An excellent new video hitting all the right notes. Pass it on!

I met some folks from Winston-Salem yesterday who said Against signs are all they are seeing. They wanted to know more.

I think we all need to be talking about this with everyone we see cause people still don't know what this is about.

This video will give you some of the best talking points. This amendment is not so much about anti-gay marriage as it is about enshrining discrimination in our Constitution.

The kicker argument for me is that it's so broadly written that a woman who is suffering from domestic violence will not be able to get a restraining order against her abuser if she is not married to him.

Great, let's make sure everyone is married so they can at least get a restraining order when they are abused.

Russell Robinson III, a prominent lawyer and conservative in Charlotte writes against Amendment One in yesterday's Charlotte Observer.

The proposed amendment is so poorly worded and so unnecessary that its adoption would actually increase the probability of a federal court invalidating its ban on same-sex marriage. This is exactly the opposite of the result intended by the amendment’s proposers.

He lays out even more unintended consequences of Amendment One -- for the opponents of gay marriage. Because of the vague language used in the NC Amendment, he writes:

That language in the recent California case describes the proposed amendment to our North Carolina constitution so well that it strongly invites the filing of a federal court action in North Carolina to invalidate our similar constitutional amendment as well. In fact, it might make North Carolina the best state in which to bring such an action.

Emphasis mine in both quotes.

And he writes correctly. Some lawyer will become very famous getting this Amendment overturned in federal court should it pass on May 8.

h/t Watauga Watch

After the jump, I've listed 10 concise factual reasons why people should vote AGAINST Amendment One, as well as provided a graphic summary image you are welcome to download and share. These reasons are confined to facts only, so that they can also be shared with people who may be opposed to gay marriage but need to know about the other implications of the bill.

The crowd included toddlers, teenagers, workers in their 40s, gay people, straight people and a few Libertarians.

This is written off-the-cuff, no one asked for me to write this. I just wanted to let you know - my social media friends - that I believe we can defeat Amendment One with your help.

At least two county chapters of the NC Libertarian Party have stated their opposition to Amendment One.