And it looks like North Carolina GOP leadership is trying to play the same shady secret and spontaneous meetings shenanigans as WI Senate did on the labor bill.
Laura Leslie, Capital Bureau Chief of WRAL is reporting Senate leadership is trying to make it appear in public records they are scheduled to debate a term limits bill. But, in fact the plan insiders tell her is to strip the language from the bill, and substitute the gay marriage ban language:
Senate leaders will start their debate on the proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex unions Monday afternoon.
But they didn’t want anyone to know about it.
According to the public notices released today, the Senate Judiciary 1 committee will be meeting Monday on H61, “Speaker/Pro Tem Term Limits” - a proposal to limit the numbers of years House and Senate members can serve as leaders of their chambers.
But a new version of the bill leaked to WRAL Friday night shows the bill the committee will take up Monday has absolutely nothing to do with term limits. The new H61 is an amended version of the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
You can try to look it up at the legislature’s website, but you won’t find it there.
The rationale behind passing this divisive and expensive bill? As
I reported yesterday, proponents say:
“We need to reach out to them and get them to change their lifestyle back to the one we accept.”
Yeah, that will work. Converting gays to straight, one discriminatory, hateful,
teen suicide-inducing ballot measure at a time.
More details on the GOP leadership's nefarious plan from WRAL's Leslie:
At 4:31 Friday afternoon, the Senate Judiciary 1 clerk sent out public notice that the committee would meet Monday at 1:30 to discuss "H61, Speaker/Pro Tem Term Limits." Public comment, the notice said, would be taken, but only if the public showed up between 1:00pm and 1:30pm in Legislative Office Building Rm. 643 to sign up.
At 4:42 pm, Senate staff attorney Susan Sitze sent all Senate Judiciary 1 members the new marriage-amendment version of the bill to be discussed Monday afternoon. The PCS, or proposed committee substitute, is not available to the public.
At 5:25 pm, 40 minutes later, the Senate Calendar was sent to the public and posted on the website, again listing the topic of Monday’s Senate Judiciary 1 meeting as “Speaker/Pro Tem Term Limits.”
"Not trying to hide"
Senate Leader Phil Berger’s Chief of Staff Jim Blaine said there was no attempt to hide anything. “Under Senate rules, we don’t have to notice meetings until midnight the day of the meeting, and at the same time send out a PCS.”
Then why tell the public you’re talking about term limits Monday, when you’re really planning to debate the marriage amendment?
“Well, that’s the name of the bill,” Blaine answered.
Leslie suggests this runs afoul of North Carolina's open meetings law, which requires legislatures allow the public notice of meetings and debates, and that the public be informed about what bills are being debated and voting on. Leslie confronts Blaine that she only knew about the agenda for the meeting because of a leak from within. Blaine explains the law only requires notice by midnight the day of the meeting. So essentially, the debate would need to be announced Sunday at midnight to be debated on Monday.
Action Steps
This first one is super easy and anyone can do it. Chris Hughes, a co-founder of Facebook and OFA social networking czar extraordinaire and a native of North Carolinia, has pledged to donate $10 to every Facebook "Like" of Equality North Carolina.
"Because there could not be a more critical time to support the work of Equality NC, my fiancé, Sean Eldridge, and I have pledged to donate $10 for each person who likes Equality NC's page on Facebook -- up to $10,000 -- to support the work of the organization between now and Tuesday. We hope that others will join us and contribute what they can of their time, energy, and resources to help defeat this anti-gay measure."
Please, go do that now, post it to you own Facebook wall and ask your friends to do so.
Hughes also penned An Open Letter to the North Carolina General Assembly warning them of the dire consequences this amendment may have on attracting high-tech businesses, like he built with Facebook:
September 9, 2011
"The next Facebook or Apple
or Google could be created
by another North Carolinian.
Be mindful of how you treat
them and their families."
I’m writing today to express my deep concern and fervent opposition to the proposed anti-gay constitutional amendment, SB106/HB777.
As the co-founder of Facebook, I have some experience with the challenges of attracting the kind of driven, dynamic and diverse employees it takes to build a fledgling start-up into a full- fledged economic success story.
Companies like Facebook, Google and Apple are the future of our global economy. But the proposed anti-gay constitutional amendment signals to these and other major employers, as well as their mobile, educated employees, that North Carolina does not welcome the diverse workforce that any state needs to compete in the international marketplace.
In short, this amendment is bad for business, bad for the perception of my home state on the national stage, and a far cry from job-creating legislation that North Carolina lawmakers should be focused on.
But the negative business impact is far from the only harm of this amendment. Growing up in a conservative atmosphere in Hickory, North Carolina, I felt first-hand the stigma of being different in a Southern state—a feeling that made it clear to me that I was not welcome in North Carolina.
The proposed discriminatory legislation will only perpetuate this stigma for a new generation of creative, talented youth, uninterested in second-class citizenship in a state they call home. Gay and lesbian North Carolinians work hard, contribute to society, and want to protect their families like everyone else. Their families deserve the same respect and the same treatment as everyone else, and they should not be exposed to the derogatory and harmful anti-gay rhetoric that inevitability accompanies these kinds of campaigns. North Carolina deserves better than that.
The next Facebook or Apple or Google could be created by another North Carolinian. Be mindful of how you treat them and their families.
Chris Hughes Co-founder of Facebook and North Carolina native
In fact, the
overwhelming majority of Fortune 500 companies have some form of non-discrimination protection and/or partner benefits for their LGBT employees. Business knows discrimination is bad for business. Does North Carolina?
Equality North Carolina is holding a Candlelight Vigil for Equality on Monday evening in Charlotte:
9/9/2011 - On Monday, September 12, at 7 p.m., a coalition of pro-equality organizations, as well as supporters of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights from the Charlotte area, will convene for a candlelight vigil at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (1900 The Plaza), in Charlotte, N.C. The Charlotte Vigil for Equality, sponsored by statewide LGBT advocacy organization Equality NC, the Human Rights Campaign, and Charlotte coalition partners, is one of many anti-amendment vigils occurring simultaneously across the state on the evening of September 12. The vigils coincide with the opening day of a special state legislative session on constitutional amendments that could include a vote on House Bill 777/Senate Bill 106, the “anti-gay constitutional amendment.” Charlotte’s hour-long candlelight vigil will be immediately preceded by a half-hour press conference beginning at 6:15 p.m., featuring local speakers, including community and faith leaders, highlighting the negative impacts of North Carolina’s proposed anti-gay amendment—legislation that would ban same-sex marriage (as state already does), prohibit civil unions and strip domestic partner benefits.
A
Stop The Amendment Action Page is set up at ECN and a
link here from ENC's homepage can direct Carolinians to their legislators.
A Big Reason To Help Now
If you are heterosexual or don't care about marriage equality and think this does not affect you, you are wrong and let me tell you why.
The 2012 election cycle will roll around and like every cycle the LGBT community in NC and across the country will suit up for battle.
- They will be manning the phone banks.
- They will be canvassing.
- They will be donating their personal funds.
- LGBT organization like Human Rights Campaign and Equality North Carolina will be cutting checks to support their interests and hiring Field Organizers.
The question that remains to be answered is this:
- Will the LGBT community be working to elect more and better Democrats in and from the Tar Heel state?
- Or will they be working overtime to stop North Carolinians from writing lasting and difficult to repeal bigotry into their Constitution?
There is still time to ensure the answer #1. But if the GOP manages to place this on the ballot, it will be a great way to divide and conquer the progressive coalition of North Carolina into competing factions for money, resources and volunteers.
Everyone invested in unity of purpose in 2012 cycle should really engage this week. We'd like to free up Chris Hughes' time and talents to work again on Obama's campaign in 2012, wouldn't we?