NC community supports gay marriage

[ccharles000]

(Carrboro, North Carolina) The Carrboro city council has passed a resolution supporting gay marriage and sent copies of it off to the state and federal government.

The city of about 19,000, not far from Chapel Hill, is considered one of the most liberal in the South - sometimes dubbed The Paris of the Piedmont. Once a sleepy farm community It now is the home to a growing number of artists and musicians.

Alderwoman Jacqui Gist introduced the motion after California voters passed Proposition 8 which amends that state’s constitution to block same-sex marriage. North Carolina law bars gay marriage but GOP attempts to enshrine it in the state constitution have failed.

Gist said her resolution is critical of the more than 1,000 state and federal rights and benefits of marriage that are denied to gay couples.

“Whereas, the denial of such benefits has been demonstrated to have significant psychological and social impact on the physical, social, and economic well-being of gay and lesbian couples and their families; and whereas the U.S. Supreme Court recognizes marriage as one of the ‘basic civil rights of man’ fundamental to our very existence and survival” and “one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men … that civil marriage for same-sex couples must include all the benefits commonly bestowed upon opposite-sex couples, including, among other rights, healthcare coverage and related decision-making, privileges under immigration and naturalization law, survivor benefits, inheritance rights, and child custody.” the resolution says.

The measure had the support of Mayor Mark Chilton who signed it.

Carrboro has had a long history of being gay-friendly. It was one of the first communities in North Carolina to offer health benefits to the same-sex partners of municipal workers. Openly gay former Mayor Mike Nelson served five terms and is now an Orange County commissioner.

http://www.365gay.com/news/nc-community-supports-gay-marriage/

[ccharles000]

1. kick

[BoneDaddy]

2. Yay

what a concept!!