Most people have heard about the amendment to the North Carolina constitution that will ban gay marriage. On May 8, the day of the presidential primary, there will be a vote to make gay marriage illegal.
The amendment says, “Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state.” While this would definitely make gay marriage illegal, it could also be interpreted as an invalidation of most of the domestic partnerships and common law marriages in North Carolina. A domestic partnership is defined as a long-term romantic relationship in which the two individuals are living together.
The vote makes it impossible for a gay couple to adopt a child together. One of the parents would have to adopt the child by him or herself. Not only would this make the actual adoption much more difficult to adopt as a “single parent”, but if the couple was ever to separate the adoptive parent would have full custody, leaving the other parent with no chance to appeal for any sort of custody.
The gay marriage vote is scheduled on the same day as the Republican primary. For those who are unaware, as a general rule, Republicans are less likely to support gay marriage than Democrats.
The real problem with this vote is the fact that is scheduled very strategically in order to pass. There are a majority of Republicans in the North Carolina congress, and they passed a vote saying the referendum would be held the same day as the Republican primary. Democrat voters don’t have a reason to go out and vote because they already have a presidential candidate.
The Vote Against Project shoot was a way for some of the members of Pullen Memorial Baptist Church to raise awareness for the vote. The creators of the Vote Against Project shoot traveled around to different cities in North Carolina and set up a photo shoot. At each place that had people put on a shirt with the “Vote Against” logo. Then people posed for their pictures, either as individuals, couples, or a whole group of friends.
Hello,
I am currently working with the Vote Against campaign in Raleigh. I just wanted to give you a heads up about your article. Gay marriage is already illegal in NC. What Amendment One seeks to do is illegalize any domestic partnership or civil union. Aka..the only legal union in the state of NC will be “marriage between one man and one woman.” So even if it is voted down GAY MARRIAGE will still be illegal, however, domestic partnerships or civil unions will still be recognized. I’m being technical here, you have the right idea with your article, but the wording is slightly innacurate. It’s understandable, the whole amendment is very confusing–which is part of the danger of it–it’s broad wording. For more information see: http://www.protectncfamilies.org/content/get-informed
Thanks for the article, Maggie. I hope you urge your friends, family and community to Vote Against!