Charlotte Pride

[carolinagarnet]

Frankly I was surprised by the margin of victory. All of the polls put supporters of Amendment 1 closer to 55%. NOM will have a field day since this is the first marriage inequality win in a long time. Even though I am disappointed with North Carolina, I am happy with the progress that has been made nationally in the past two years. If Washington and Maryland can get past referendums, Maine can reinstate their marriage equality law, and New Jersey can override Christie's veto, and the courts can continue to overturn Prop 8 in California, there will be a big case for a national same sex marriage law in 10-15 years.

[nashvylle]

I am from Nashville and upset with the results. As a Christian, I support equality for EVERYONE. I was raised by Christian parents who taught me to 'love one another'... I hope that all Christians can come to love one another, whether you're Christian, atheist, homosexual, etc.

is there not enough hate in the world already?

[nashbill]

Also from Nashville, facing many referendums in this state, I am in a rotten mood. I knew Amendment one would pass, but I didn't expect it to be a large margin. Above someone mentioned that this would not get much coverage. It has been getting global interest. The BBC has been following this for weeks as well as all the news organizations. I feel beaten down and tired. I want to just go outside and howl.

[DCMetroRaleigh]

Thank you, Mr President!

[28202]

One of my work peeps sent me to change.org for the petition against amendment one. It has 130K of the targeted 1mil in one day!

Anyone from any state can sign. Check it out.

[nashbill]

wrong in to many ways to mention - deleted

Edited May 11, 2012 by nashbill

[NCMike1981]

I know this is a Charlotte thread but the Triangle doesn't have a discussion involving the Amendment and I don't want to open a new thread just to make a comment lol. While I am dissapointed in NC overall (I was expecting failure but thought at would be a bit closer then 61/39) I am proud of those counties that voted against, especially the Triangle. When I see the results map it's like the Triangle is an island of tolerance....kinda looks "the heart of Carolina" to use a much overused term lol. Honestly Chatham County surpised me....the largest city in the county is Siler City at like 7,000 and Pittsboro is half that. I've heard that the eastern part of the county is becoming a bit of a bedroom community to Chapel Hill/Carrboro (Orange was 79% against!) and Durham (70% against!) which may explain it a bit. I feel kind of sorry for Guilford and New Hanover as they were only about 70 and 300 votes shy of being against so now they will get lumped into the "for" crowd, even though they seem to be very progressive compared to other parts of the state. Dare County along the OBX was only like 52% for the amendment, apparantely they are considered one of the most gay friendly beach areas in NC. It's great that Charlotte voted against too, I've always heard Chalotte is pretty conservative for such a big city. Boone and Asheville have always been my favorite mountain towns so it is awesome to see 2 counties in the mountains voting against. The fight isn't over...keep the faith!

Edited May 11, 2012 by NCMike1981

[DCMetroRaleigh]

Dare County ended up voting AGAINST the Amendment.

[nashbill]

Just when you think things can't get any worse, you read something like this:

http://www.towleroad.com/2012/05/nc-pastor-wants-to-build-electrified-fence-to-contain-starve-and-ultimately-kill-gays-video.html

I know it is not Charlotte, but the whole state. And the blog this came from is pretty well read all over. This coming from a Christian! Really! A Christian! And people wonder why I want nothing to do with any religion (cult).

[Temeteron]

Just when you think things can't get any worse, you read something like this:

http://www.towleroad...gays-video.html

I know it is not Charlotte, but the whole state. And the blog this came from is pretty well read all over. This coming from a Christian! Really! A Christian! And people wonder why I want nothing to do with any religion (cult).

Wow what an ignorant man!

[ah59396]

Let's be honest, this guy isn't saying anything that some other lunatic hasn't said before. The real travesty here is spreading this crap around for anyone to see. Let him spew that b.s. inside of that church, I promise he is not the only one.

[nashbill]

I agree ah59396 that what he said is nothing new. The problem I see is a Pastor of a church seems to be telling his congregation that it is OK to kill gays. Does Hitler come to mind where they rounded up gays and killed them along with Jews. The pink triangle came from that. Gay bashing and I am not talking about just verbal assault continues. Some die and some survive. The only reason they were attacked was because they were gay. I am so fed up with this. Where did the idea come? Perhaps a lunatic preacher gave them the idea. These are dangerous people and I would characterize them as terrorists.

Edited May 22, 2012 by nashbill

[ah59396]

Don't get me wrong, it's mad crazy. And awfully screwed up. But that guy has probably been saying that b.s. for YEARS. and i'm sure he is not the only one. What makes it bad is when it sent around the internet endlessly, creating more buzz for that guy and that congregation. No publicity is bad publicity, as they say. Because as many of us as there are that are completely appalled by it; there are unfortunately some who will be drawn to it.

This kind of hate will always exist, no matter how progressive our society is. So if that's the case, I'd rather be holed up in some Church in the middle of Bumblescum, NC rather than online for millions of people to see. Think Anders Breivik. He became a terrorist just to get this kind of attention.

[DCMetroRaleigh]

Ah, I understand what you are saying, but the fact that this type of rant elicits such rapid, widespread, and strong global denunciation is noteworhty too. There was a time not very long ago when this type of sentiment would barely raise an eyebrow. There is even talk of people from all over the nation coming to Maiden to protest the church this Sunday, which hopefully won't end up ugly.

[nashbill]

ah59396, your making me learn something. Anders Breivik. I had no idea who that was, although I have read much about that tragedy. Bumblescum, NC - very funny. I have calmed down a lot and thank the Urban Planet for having a place for me to vent. I see the story is in the Observer now, causing a lot comments. In a way, this helps. I see a lot of people (gay,straight,christian,atheist) who are equally outraged and expressing it. No point to this, except thanks.

[nashbill]

A friend e-mailed me this link to a petition. I am not a big petition type guy, because I don't know if they do any good, but here it is if you would like to sign it:

http://www.change.org/petitions/pastor-charles-l-worley-step-down-as-pastor-of-providence-road-baptist-church-in-north-carolina

[ah59396]

That's a great point DCMetro. It is good to see the amount of backlash. Hopefully that guy will just get hit by lightning or something. Kidding...sort of. No seriously, just kidding. Sort of.

[abttown]

Oh Lord! This sermon is now on CNN.com. The governor was right, we are looking more and more like Mississippi every day. Let's hope the DNC goes over really well so we can maybe take a step forward after all this. Unfortunately, people are exposed to this sort of rhetoric on a weekly basis.

[grodney]

I'm really frustrated and maddened (and sickened) by this Amendment One thing. Anyone here that's gay have any friends or family or co-workers that you know are pro-Amendment One? Ever confront them and have them explain their view to your face?

I'd like to think if the YES voters had to put a personal face on their vote, they would change their minds. But I'm probably kidding myself.

Sorry if this question isn't appropriate. Please delete if so.

[ah59396]

They wouldn't change their minds. They justify it as something dictated by the Bible and that is the end of it for them. It's the same crap you've already heard and regardless of how upset you get, some people are never going to change. Don't get frustrated though, change like this always take time. Try to look at the positives of how far the equality movement has come, even in just the last decade, and you'll feel a little more optimistic for the future. At some point, Amendment One will be overturned. And years after that, people will look back and say "people really did that??". Kinda the same way we look at segregation prior to the Civil Rights movement now.

[NCMike1981]

in the meantime we know which parts of the state are gay friendly and we can share this map with any out of state friends lol. I got to say though Guilford and New Hanover were so close (like 70 and 300ish short of voting majority against) it almost feels unfair for them to get lumped into the pro amendment crowd. From what I hear, at least in reference to Guilford, every polling place within the city (of Greensboro at least, haven't heard anything specifically about High Point) was majority against but most of the out of city locations were for. I have a feeling the same thing happened in Wilmington. I'm not that familiar with Winston Salem but I gather they are either more conservative then the other bigger cities or perhaps there are more rural areas of Forsyth that went out and voted (they were 53% for).

And yes the giant blue blob along the coast is meant to represent Dare County :-)

Edited May 26, 2012 by NCMike1981

[abttown]

I hate how NC is lumped right back into the deep south after that vote. One thing I try to tell people is that this was the REPUBLICAN primary and voter turnout was ~34%. That's a higher turnout for a primary, but most people in the state didn't vote (I know quite a few folks who would have voted against amendment one, but didn't feel like voting in a primary) . I've honestly never been more disappointed in this state, but also very hopeful to hear friends back home in Caldwell county be so much more open-minded on this issue than I gave them credit for. The tides are changing and the younger generation will hopefully usher in a new era of tolerance (at least on this issue). Hopefully the feds decide to step up and make all of this a moot point sooner rather than later.

On a related note, if anyone wants to take at look at how a particular county voted on amendment one, just click the link below and select the county. You'll have to scroll down to the bottom for the amendment and then click on "contest detail map". This shows you the vote in each congressional district.

http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NC/36596/82423/en/select-county.html

[Urbanity]

In regards to the Amendment Vote and Charlotte in particular I thought you all might be interested in a post I wrote a few days after the vote:

Now more than ever - Visit Gay Charlotte

Edited May 28, 2012 by Urbanity

[nashbill]

Nice love letter Urbanity, to your adopted new home. In the past year I have seen so many stupid initiatives here in TN that I asked all my family and friends to boycott this state. That was not going to happen. To many Jack Daniels lovers out there. I see now you are correct. Visit more, not less. Be seen here more. Make sure they know where there dollars are coming from.

My concern now, is the recruiting of companies. Many have the non-discrimination policies in place and also offer health insurance for domestic partners, including the company I work for. Will companies still consider moving to states that show so much hate to it's own citizens? I tend to think the bottom line is money. Money is a powerful incentive to move. But the real money makers and creative thinkers may have a different vibe than the old guard. I think they will want to launch companies in a more free and open environment. I have no proof of that. It's just a feeling.

[nashbill]

Give this man a listen.

It is worth your time.