Marching to the polls, students chanted, “No Justice, No Peace” and “Hey hey, go go, Amendment 1 has got to go” as they walked from Hayes-Taylor YMCA through downtown Greensboro to continue their rally with bystanders watching.
Marching to the polls, students chanted, “No Justice, No Peace” and “Hey hey, go go, Amendment 1 has got to go” as they walked from Hayes-Taylor YMCA through downtown Greensboro to continue their rally with bystanders watching.
Students from N.C. A&T, UNC Greensboro, Greensboro College, Bennett College for Women, Elon University and Guilford Tech Community College all participated in the rally to bring awareness to a new bill could ban same sex marriage within the state of North Carolina.
“I am here for early voting against Amendment 1 because I think everyone should have equal rights and be able to marry whomever they want and that it is not for people to decide what is valid and what is not,” said Lauren Brownridge, a senior electrical engineering major from Aurora, Illinois.
Though same sex marriage is already illegal in the state of North Carolina, this amendment will appear on the May 8 ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment.
If this is approved, it will amend Article 14 of the state constitution by adding a new section.
It will state, “marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state. This section does not prohibit a private party from entering into contracts with another private party; nor does this section prohibit courts from adjudicating the rights of private parties pursuant to such contracts.”
“I think that it’s good for students to get involved and vote against this amendment,” said A&T graduate and North Carolina House of Representatives member, Marcus Brandon.
Brandon, representative for the 60th House District in Guilford County, feels that being a member of the LGBT community and a part of the N.C. General Assembly that this amendment is one that not only affects homosexuals but the state overall.
“I think Amendment one is egregious (offensive) and no matter how someone feels about the bill itself or homosexuals, it is not right to pin this against same sex couples.”
Brandon feels that the legislative is wrong for putting people’s rights up for vote and that the constitution is for individual rights and not for majority rights.
Within approving this bill, Carolinians main concern is losing the right to marry in same sex relationships but the negative affects on the state.
Domestic violence protections, domestic benefits for straight and gay couples and health care benefits could be stripped away.
“I think it is wrong to have a piece of legislature that is discriminating against certain communities,” said Jasmine Brown, a junior biology major from Charlotte and a member of the N.C. A&T chapter of NAACP.
Organizer of the rally and member of the Coalition to Protect NC Families, William Robinson felt that sponsors of this bill do not care about African-Americans and that this bill is leading towards trying to exploit the black vote as a whole.
“I’m not for discrimination and codifying hate into the constitution and I am not for majority vote on the rights of the minority,” said Robinson.
“The constitution is not a minority or a majority of the people, it is for everybody so it should never be to secure someone’s moral beliefs but it should protect every citizen of this country.”
For more informaion on the North Carolina General Assembly and the new amendment, go to: www.ncleg.net and you can learn more about the Coalition to Protect North Carolina Families by going to:
www.protectncfamilies.com.
[email protected] and you can follow him on Twitter @_erikveal
- Erik Veal, Online Editor