LGBT issues

Winner of the "worst person for the job", that is:

A. L. "Buddy" Collins is an attorney and a longtime member of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School Board of Education. He has clashed with the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) over the years surrounding the group's efforts to stop bullying on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

And just as the top-down bigotry at the school board snowballed and had a terrible impact on LGBT students who were supposed to be "under their care", moving this bigot up to the state level could have a similar effect from the coast to the mountains:

Dear President Obama:

I write to you today not as a Democrat, nor as the Chair of the Gaston County Democratic party, but I write to you as a proud man and Gay American.

Just got word of this. It is being hosted by the Libertarian Party of Mecklenburg County and has a really impressive list of panelists:

Charlotte, NC – On Tuesday August 21st, in honor of Pride Week, LPMeck will hold a forum addressing LGBT issues in North Carolina. A special guest panel has been invited to weigh in on these issues and hold an open discussion on the current political landscape in North Carolina and how it relates to members of the LGBT community.

The event will begin at 7:00pm in the upstairs banquet room at Fox & Hound uptown. The discussion will be moderated by LPMeck Chairman, Tim Doran.

Analysis of PPP Polling numbers by Seth Effron:

Based on early voting turnout and polling results from Public Policy Polling, those opposing Amendment One have an uphill battle today – mostly because of the astonishingly near unanimous support of the amendment from Republicans. The facts -- there were 260,068 Democratic Party ballots cast in early voting (including registered Democrats and unaffiliateds who cast Democratic Party ballots) and 209,656 Republican Party ballots cast (including registered Republicans and unaffiliateds who cast GOP ballots). Public Policy Polling said 40 percent of the Democrats would vote FOR the amendment and 53 percent would vote against it. The poll has 80 percent of Republicans voting for the amendment and just 16 percent voting against it.

It's a sad day when I feel ashamed of 40% of my own Party. It's not over yet, and we might just be surprised. But it's plain (to me) that the North Carolina Democratic Party has a long way to go.

And he's hoping for help from a Democrat:

Forrester said he’s hoping the proposed constitutional change will have a better chance this year since the Senate has a new Rules Committee chairman.

The new chairman is Sen. David Hoyle, D-Gaston. Hoyle signed on as a cosponsor of the proposed amendment last year. Hoyle said he expects to send the bill to the Rules Committee this year. But he doesn’t expect the committee to take it up.