I'm sick of the intolerance and bigotry getting imported from other places, Called2Action; we have enough wingnuts here already.
There is going to be a "Traditional Marriage Rally" on Tuesday May 10th at the NC General Assembly and the American Taliban is going to make its presence known by supporting the anti-gay marriage amendment bills that are currently stalled in committee. The wingnuts are trying to get it on the floor for discussion and a vote. The deadline for passage is May 19th. The bill would deep-six equal marriage rights, but it would also prohibit any recognition of civil unions, domestic partnerships, or similar relationships in the state. To add insult to injury, the language of the bill is so broad it could prevent private companies from extending domestic partner benefits to their employees. It must be stopped.
The efforts of progressive and gay activists, including the folks at
Equality NC, were thankfully able to keep an almost identical marriage amendment in similar circumstances off the ballot in 2004, but we all knew they would be back at it again this year. It was one of the first bills sent up for this session; this year's version has five fewer sponsors than the 2004 bill. A group of religious leaders and progressives against the amendment was
held in March, but we knew the Religious Reich's response was going to be to bring out the big guns. And yes, they are...
I lifted this from NC Rumors, a right-wing blog:
Representative Tim Moore of Cleveland County. He and Representative Jeff Barnhardt are primary sponsors of this bill in the House. Senator Fred Smith is sponsoring a similar bill in the NC Senate.
Friends,
This weekend is our last chance to sound the trumpet for the Marriage Rally next Tuesday, May 10th at Noon! God has been moving in so many ways and we are looking forward to a powerful day. Here is the final list of speakers, in order:
Michael Johnson, Alliance Defense Fund
Steve Noble, Called2Action
Dr. Bill Maier, VP, Focus on the Family (James Dobson's outfit); Bob Knight, Concerned Women for America
Tony Perkins, Family Research Council; Pastor & Mrs. Patrick Wooden, Upper Room Church of God in Christ (Raleigh) [More on this f*cker here.]
Dr. Danny Aiken, President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (Wake Forest); Bishop Wellington Boone, nationally known evangelist, speaker, author and Promise Keepers favorite
note: The program will begin promptly at 12:00 and end at 1:30. We hope you will stick around after the Rally to go visit your legislators personally. Listings of Representatives and office information will be available at one of our tables, or you can go to our homepage and look them up.
note: I have attached a great Rally Flyer to this email...please print it, cut it, and use it! If everyone getting this email were to hand out 20 flyers, we would distribute over 37,000 this weekend! That's what can happen when we operate as One Voice. If you are a Pastor or Church Leader, please get this flyer into your Sunday School classes as well as your Sanctuary...please challenge your flock to invest a few hours of their time to help defend Marriage!
note: Please make sure you look over the parking options: Park & Ride or Park & Walk If you are going to Park & Ride, PLEASE make sure you register here! If you are a Pastor, you can get a "head count" and register with that information!
note: Please take a moment to look over our Rally Signs and Rally Etiquette pages (they will be up by Friday night). It is vitally important that this rally remains positive - we are not there to bash people who disagree with our views. If we see offensive signs, we will be asking you to get rid of them (we are trying to provide some signs for you to use - if not, please check out our suggestions). There will probably be protesters, but treat them with respect & dignity - even if they don't treat you that way. Be a good witness of the Love and Forgiveness of Christ.
Please pray for good weather, a mighty crowd, and a movement of God on our Legislature.
In His Service,
Steve Noble
Chairman
The folks at Called2Action showed up
in March to protest Chapel Hill and Orange County's non-binding measure to support the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, to support adding sexual orientation to the state's hate crimes law; and to oppose the constitutional amendment up now. These losers are featuring "Talking Points" on its web site for Tuesday's rally (I have the document
here). Look at the bullsh*t they are feeding the sheeple, coaching them for lobbying our legislators:
Legalization of same-sex marriage is crucial to a broad agenda that includes
- Silencing all public religious teaching against homosexual activity
- Criminalization of any institutional limitation of homosexual activity
- Complete legal and financial equality of same-sex partnerships
- Complete normalization of homosexuality in all public education
- Aggressive reverse discrimination in favor of homosexuals and their proponents
- Aggressive institutional and legal discrimination against anyone who speaks against homosexual practices
North Carolina has strong laws that define marriage as only between one man & one woman at one time. However, having a strong law is not enough in todays culture. Indeed, North Carolina is only one decision away from having its marriage laws declared unconstitutional. The strongest defense in favor of traditional marriage is a state constitutional amendment an amendment which has been introduced in both chambers of the NC legislature.
I'm sick of this roadshow of hate coming to my state. This past weekend it was the Westboro Baptist Church crowd
protesting a Durham high school production of The Laramie Project, now this crap.
Clearly the Reich is worried that NC is wavering as solid "Red" state, sensing a political shift that requires them to take strong action. This is scary stuff.
(Cross-posted at Pam's House Blend)