Just Don't Call it Marriage

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The state legislature in North Carolina today voted to place a constitutional amendment banning equal marriage on the ballot for the May primary, when Republicans will be turning out in droves to choose a presidential candidate.

North Carolina is currently the only state in the southeast that doesn't already have a constitutional amendment banning equal marriage. It's illegal for us to get married here already, but this constitutional amendment will also make it illegal for counties, municipalities, and the state university system to allow partner benefits for people in committed same-sex relationships. This constitutional amendment - which will certainly be passed by the Republican voters who will vote on it in May - will take away the right of counties and cities to offer some minimal equal rights to gay partners. It will strip the few rights that we have managed to eke out in a few progressive urban centers in North Carolina. Why? Because the constitutional amendment outlaws not just equal marriage, but domestic partnerships as well.

So for those on DU who are always saying, "why don't you just settle for civil unions, just don't call it marriage??!!" here it is, folks. The people opposed to equal rights for gay people are not interested in protecting marriage. They are not interested in reserving the word marriage and allowing gay people to have equal rights under a different name. No, they want to strip us of ALL rights, even the few that we've managed to scrape together.

It is still perfectly legal to fire a person merely for being gay in North Carolina. It is legal to kick a gay person out of an apartment, for instance, just because they are gay. And it will soon be legal - constitutional, even - to deny the city of Charlotte the right to give their employees the opportunity to buy health insurance for their partners. Even if those partners are legally married in New York.

Story here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/09/12/1482834/may-vote-likely-on-amendment-to.html

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1. More info at PamsHouseBlend, including some good commentary

http://pamshouseblend.firedoglake.com/