Equality NC
On February 26, MRS will have a speaker from Equality NC to tell us about the accomplishments of the organization, which include:
- HIV/AIDS prevention & care funding
- Hospital non-discrimination
- Joint custody of kids for LGBT couples
- The 2009 School Violence Prevention Act (bullying and harassment in schools)
- The 2009 Healthy Youth Act (comprehensive sex education in grades 7-9, vs. the abstinence-only option)
- 2011 Equality Conference & Gala
and finally, and critically for our time,
- the Coalition to Protect All NC Families and
- the efforts to defeat the proposed change to the NC Constitution called the ‘Marriage Amendment’ (in case you live in a cave, the amendment limits marriage to one man and one woman and would not only prohibit same-sex marriages but also domestic partnerships and domestic partner benefits … and even permit threats to a person’s Last Will and Testament).
NC is the only state in the Southeast without such a limitation in its Constitution (though state law already prohibits gay marriages).
The speaker, Sam Parker, joined Equality NC in June 2011 as the organization’s Field Director, and she is also the Deputy Field Director of the Coalition to Protect ALL NC Families. Hailing from New Jersey, Parker spent the past seven years in Maine earning undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Southern Maine. Among the organizations/groups Sam has worked for as an advocate, organizer, and/or volunteer are the Human Rights Campaign, The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and Equality Maine.
What can you do to prevent the political crassness and blatant discrimination embodied in the amendment? Come to the meeting.