Amendment One

"Durham, NC – The Libertarian Party of North Carolina held its annual state convention March 23-25 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Durham. Delegates, several guests, and guest speakers attended...

The convention unanimously declared the LPNC’s opposition to the proposed constitutional amendment restricting marriage in a resolution that also opposes marriage licensing in any form and calls on betrothed couples to ignore licensing altogether."

From North Carolina's leading conservative intellectual

I think amending North Carolina’s constitution to forbid gay and lesbian couples from receiving any future legal recognition, including civil unions, is unwise and unfair. In my opinion the real threat to marriage is not the prospect of gay people getting hitched. It is the reality of straight people too quickly resorting to divorce, or never getting hitched in the first place.

It's time to put the weight of your leadership, and Art Pope's money, behind those words, Mr. Hood. BlueNC extremists like me have contributed many thousands of dollars to help stop Amendment One. We'd welcome your contributions too.

http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/story/10866062/

The Obama campaign issued a statement Friday, calling the proposed amendment discriminatory.

Opponents of the measure say it would enshrine discrimination in the state's constitution and could have unforeseen consequences in other aspects of law including domestic violence protection orders...

From Tea Party supported Republican Congresswoman Renee Ellmers to President Obama, the bipartisan opposition to the amendment is growing! And every time it does, that's one more mention in the news about why this amendment is such a bad thing for our state. Spread the news, and ask your local elected officials to come out against the amendment too! With this diverse of a field against it, they've got all the political cover they could ever need to do the right thing.

Kudos to WRAL and Laura Leslie for this deeper coverage of the rally today. A lot of stations went for a more "fair and balanced" oversimplification approach pitting it as a pro-marriage equality versus anti-marriage equality story, without digging into the effects of the amendment at all.

http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/story/10858711/

Opponents of the measure say it would enshrine discrimination in the state's constitution and could have unforeseen consequences in other aspects of law including domestic violence protection orders, which supporters deny.

"It's really simple: This isn't about being gay or being straight. This is about being equal," march organizer Corey Livengood said. "I'm not different than you or your daughter or your son or your brother or your mother in that I deserve the same rights anyone else does."

This Ides of Love march will probably be the single largest anti-amendment event that happens during this campaign season. It's starting at the bell tower on NCSU's campus at 11am on Thursday 3/15/12. People are coming from across the state. Nearly 1000 people have RSVPed on facebook. And early voting is only a month away.

We need this march to be big because we need the free media coverage, we need to register more voters, and above all we need to make sure everyone knows they are not alone in this uphill struggle against discrimination. I need you to be there.

Updated: Over 1000 people have now RSVPed. Great job Honest NC!

NC LIBERTARIAN PARTY URGES NORTH CAROLINIANS TO VOTE AGAINST AMENDMENT ONE

Raleigh, N.C. - The North Carolina Libertarian Party today declared its formal opposition to Amendment One. The state's third-largest party is encouraging its members, as well as all other voters, regardless of party affiliation, to vote against the constitutional amendment on the May 8 primary ballot.

J.J. Summerell, chair of the North Carolina Libertarian Party, declared the Libertarian Party’s unequivocal opposition to Amendment One.

Given all the happy talk by Republican leaders about excellence and integrity, their push for Amendment One should be a professional embarrassment. Amendment One is shitty law, hastily written, and admittedly wrong.

True to form, the GOP pushed this amendment without thinking it through. It shows. And now they're trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. It isn't working. Amendment One does things even its proponents recognize as technically and morally wrong. When a person as clueless as Renee Ellmers can understand these flaws, you know it's bad law.

Race to the Ballot, which started in western NC, has their finale event in Wilmington on Friday.

All of Us NC is having their big eastern NC "train-the-trainers" workshop, which will hopefully spur many more workshops in NC, in Wilmington on Saturday.

Honest NC is doing their anti-amendment Ides of Love march in Raleigh on on 3/15/12.

Early voting for this amendment starts in about a month and a half. It's time to get involved if you're going to!

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius rallied a crowd of 1,400 at a Human Rights Campaign Gala in Charlotte Saturday night to defeat Amendment One.