Anti-Marriage Amendment Halted for Third Year

The North Carolina General Assembly adjourned its 2006 session at 1:09 this morning without voting on a bill that would amend the state constitution to deny equal marraige rights to same-sex couples as well as banning civil unions, domestic partnership or any other form of relationship recognition for unmarried couples.

"North Carolinians should be proud that their elected leaders spent their time this year on important issues like ethics reforms, the minimum wage, and the state budget, rather than the politically motivated bigotry of this amendment," said Ian Palmquist, Executive Director. "Equality North Carolina worked closely with legislative allies to block this unnecessary, discriminatory legislation."

As this bill would have inserted discrimination against LGBT people into the state’s constitution, Equality NC and its supporters led a ferocious charge to help keep the bill in check for the third straight year.

Among the most critical actions taken by the advocacy group was the organization of a lobby day on June 6 in which nearly 100 North Carolinians came to Raleigh to rally against the proposed amendment. Equality NC supporters came from all over the state to lobby their legislators and take part in a spirited rally outside the Capitol Building.

"When legislators hear from real people whose lives would be affected by anti-gay legislation, it opens their eyes to the impact of their decisions," said Palmquist. "Our lobby day and other efforts enabled gay and straight North Carolinians alike to speak out against discrimination."

As a result of the efforts by the Equality NC staff and the support from its members and ally organizations, North Carolina remains the only state in the South to stop an amendment banning marriage for same-sex couples in the legislature.

The defeat of this year's far right effort to legally demote LGBT people to second-class citizenship is one of several major triumphs for Equality NC and its partners in the campaign for justice.

Thanks to aggressive lobbying by ENC and allies, the General Assembly recently passed a bill raising the level of eligibility for low-income North Carolinians with HIV/AIDS to receive life-saving medicine from the state AIDS Drug Assistance Program, and Wednesday the legislature adopted important changes to the state's "Teach Abstinence Until Marriage" law, correcting several medical and legal inaccuracies in the curriculum. Equality NC also achieved a significant milestone this month when its board approved an expansion that will add two staff members as well as increase its influence in the western part of the state.