Jesus-like People of Faith Rally to Oppose Anti-LGBT People of Faith in NC

Marriage = 1 obese man + 1 obese woman

On Friday, many kind, compassionate, and brave people of faith will gather in Charlotte, NC for a Faith Community Rally Against Homophobia & Transphobia. This is one of many events across the state to show the faith community's opposition to the anti-LGBT amendment currently being considered by North Carolina legislature.

After going blue in 2008, North Carolina has been experiencing a bit of a GOP backlash, with multiple culture war initiatives harking back to the days of Jesse Helms, an era that many had thought was over.

Last week, the NC Senate passed the poorly-named Women's Right to Know Act, which "requires women to wait 24 hours before getting an abortion within which time they must view an ultrasound or listen to the heartbeat of the fetus and be given printed information about the risks that may be associated with the procedure." The bill should have been named the Woman's Loss of Rights Act.

The state senate also passed a Voter ID bill, requiring all voters to show a photo ID, and eliminating Sunday early voting and same-day registration. Guess which voter demographic is statistically more likely to not have a photo ID, and vote on Sundays after church? You're right.

The Senate has passed more bills recently that set the clock back on North Carolina, but getting back to the anti-LGBT legislation...

The bills, SB 106/HB 777, or the "We Hate Our LGBT North Carolinians Amendment," would amend the state constitution to include a new section that reads "Marriage between a man and a woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State."

Groups of religious folks who closely resemble their messiah in their attitudes and willingness to stand up for what's right will be protesting those folks who claim to be doing the Christian thing by yelling hateful, embarrassing things and denying the rights of human beings who are being who they are.

Many folks wrongly believe that this bill is only about the word "marriage." That is naive. NC Equality states:

"In addition to limiting marriage to opposite sex couples, as state statute already does, it would prohibit any other form of relationship recognition, such as civil union or domestic partnership. This kind of language has been used in other states to take away private benefits such as health insurance for LGBT couples, unmarried opposite-sex couples, and their children. This is a not a hypothetical issue but a very real one. These amendments have also been used to challenge other private contracts between couples. The amendment would not only write the current discriminatory marriage law into the constitution, it would actually take away rights and responsibilities that are currently available to some couples. Both versions [of the bill] effectively represent divisive, discriminatory and distracting legislation that would actively write discrimination into the state’s founding document by prohibiting some form of legal relationship recognition for gay and lesbian couples."

So, if you are in the Charlotte area, and you are one of the religious folks who actually love your neighbors, let yourself be heard.

From the Standing on the Side of Love press release:

Beginning at 4:30 p.m., several hundred people are planning to march on the sidewalks from the Charlotte Convention Center, where the Unitarian Universalist Association is holding its annual meeting, to gather for a 4:45 p.m. rally in Marshall Park that will feature local, national, and international clergy speaking out against proposed legislation that will marginalize and discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

“Locally, some faith leaders are using religious arguments that demean the inherent worth and dignity of gays and lesbians in an effort to promote writing discrimination into our state constitution,” said Rev. Jay Leach, Sr. Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte. “This rally is an opportunity for us as religious leaders to demonstrate a climate of inclusion and acceptance for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals and their families. Our faith calls us to stand on the side of love with LGBT people, and honor the challenges they face, no matter where they live.”

“Love is about embracing all people in our communities,” said Rev. Chris Ayers of Wedgewood Baptist Church. “As faith leaders, we have a moral responsibility to remind people that love knows no border, no gender, no race, and no religion.”