Happy Valentine^f Day!
.north
& sout
CAROLIN
noted . notable . noteworthy GLBT issues
Q-LMng:
(^lebrating gay
marriage
A
-- 'S’ >
North and South
Carolina
North Carolina:
Winston-Salem gets love!
Valour! Compassion!’ 08
South Carolina:
SCGLPM seeks gay
historical material 10
If current politicai trends
continue, would you conskter
relocating to another cmmtry
with a more gay*friendiy
atomospfm?
VOLUME ±9 . ISSUE 20
SINCE
WVWW.Q-NOTES.COM
FEBRUARY 12
N.C Marriage Amendment, round two
N.C. Republicans still trying to
push anti-gay agenda, veiled in
'marriage protection'
by Mark Smith
After Democrats squashed all attempts
last year by N.C. Republicans to bring to the
table a bill that would ban same-sex mar
riage in North Carolina, the state’s GOP sen
ators are at it again.
Sens. Jim Forrester (R-Gaston) and Fred
Smith (R-]ohnston) introduced a proposed
N.C. constitutional amendment ]an. 27 that
would prevent same-sex couples from mar
rying or allow such marriages from other
states local recognition.
New rules drafted by the chamber’s
Democratic leader, Sen. Tony Rand of
Fayetteville, and passed the last week of
January, will make it even more difficult for
Republicans to push their anti-gay agenda,
however.
The bill would require support from two-
thirds of the 50 senators to debate a. bill.
“We believe that a constitutional amend
ment that probably 70 percent of the people
of North Carolina would support should be
heard on the (Senate) floor,” Smith said.
Same-sex marriages are already illegal
under N.C. law, but the ban is not in the
state constitution. Seventeen states have
constitutional bans on gay marriage.
according to the National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force.
The bill Forrester submitted, reads
as follows:
“Marriage is the union of one man and
one woman at one time. This is the only
marriage that shall be recognized as valid in
this State. The uniting of two persons of the
same sex or the uniting of more than two
persons of any sex in a marriage, civil union,
domestic partnership, or other similar rela
tionship within or outside of this State shall
not be valid or recognized in this State. This
Constitution shall not be construed to require
that marital status or the rights, privileges,
benefits, or other legal incidents of marriage
be conferred upon unmarried individuals or
groups.”
If the House and Senate approved the
amendment, voters would have their say in
May 2006.
“If we’re going to continue to build the
society that we have, I think we need to
define the institution of marriage as we’ve
traditionally known it,” said Sen; Smith.
But a gay rights activist interviewed on
Raleigh’s WRAL-TV saw things differently.
“You’re talking about families. You’re talk
ing about making it more rigid in the consti
tution of this state — limiting our rights,
making it specific that we have no rights as
couples, as families," s^id Heggemeier.
Ian Palmquist, executive director of
EqualityNC, issued an immediate call to the
N.C. LGBT community to aid in the fight
against legislated homophobia.
“We need to take action right now to help
stop [this] attack,” Palmquist said in a press
statement.
“The proposal may go much further than
banning same-sex marriage — which is
already illegal in North Carolina — but could
prohibit any sort of recognition of same-sex
relationships. The amendment’s sponsors
are looking for co-sponsors now, so write
your legislators today and ask them not to
sign on.”
Take action online:
www.equalitync.org/octioncenter
In the next issue;
Businesses in the Carolinas
LGBT groups respond to
State of the Union address
Bush reiterates support far anti-gay marriage amendment
by Donald Miller
In his Feb. 2 State of the Union address President George W. Bush talked at
length about the need for social security reform, despite an interview wth the
Washington Post, in which he stated that he would not pursue the Federal Mar
riage Amendment during his new term, it came as no
surprise that he felt the need to address the issue
once again following a backlash from anti-gay conser
vative supporters who threatened to stymie Bush’s
social security overhaul if her did not maintain support
of the FMA.
“Our second great responsibility to our children
and grandchildren is to honor and to pass along the
values that sustain a free society,” said Bush. “So
many of my generation, after a long journey, have
come home to family and faith and are determined to
bring up responsible, moral children. Government is not the source of these val
ues, but government should never undermine them.
“Because marriage is a sacred institution and the foundation of society, it should
not be re-defined by activist judges. For the good of families, children and society,
I support a constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage.”
Reaction from LGBT advocacy groups across the country has been swift and
condemning.
“Once again. President Bush contradicts himself,” see BUSH on 17
Charlotte Pride
under attack again
by OSA
Group using event to go after Charlotte's
LGBT community
by Donald Miller
At a Charlotte City
Council meeting during
the last week of January,
around 100 members of
the Concord-based anti
gay organization Oper
ation Save America (OSA)
urged the Charlotte City
Council to deny Charlotte
Pride a license for their
annual LGBT pride festi
val, which has been held in the city’s downtown Marshall
Park annually since 2000.
OSA practically took over the meeting, taking all of the
slots available at the council’s public forum. Many of them
complained about photos at a gay men’s nudist booth and
performances by drag queens at
Pride 2004. Not surprisingly, seeOSAon4
2005 will mark the fifth
year Pride has been held in
Charlotte's AAarshall Park.