Part of a Larger Agenda
Homosexual activists in our state are seeking equality in many different arenas—education, hate crimes, and housing—but not marriage, at least not yet. Because they are keenly aware that North Carolina is a southern state driven by values that are still conservative and tied to faith, homosexual activists are not presently pressing overtly for marriage equality, or legalization of same-sex marriage. But they are setting the stage for that by creating special rights for homosexuals.
Their agenda is to gradually erode the legal foundation for heterosexual marriage, so that when they finally file a lawsuit seeking to overturn our marriage statutes, the North Carolina Supreme Court will look at what the legislature has done to demonstrate recognition for homosexual rights up to that point. What homosexual activists hope to point the Court to is: (1) a sex education curriculum that requires public schools to teach respect for "committed relationships" (i.e. homosexual relationships); (2) an anti-bullying policy that requires public schools to recognize and teach "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" as normal behaviors; (3) housing and accommodations statutes that favor persons on the basis of "sexual orientation" and "gender identity"; (4) and hate crimes statutes that recognize "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" as protected classes. All of these bills are currently pending in our General Assembly. The threat to creating special rights for homosexuals in North Carolina is real and very present.
Homosexual activists are hoping that they can keep the General Assembly from voting on the Marriage Protection Amendment long enough for them to change one or two seats on our Supreme Court. Presently, our Supreme Court is split 3-4 on many of its close decisions, especially on social issues. If they are able to win just one more seat on the Court, homosexual activists may be emboldened enough to file the lawsuit challenging our Marriage statutes. When that happens, they hope they will have succeded in getting the terms "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" into our statutes somewhere, so the Supreme Court can look to the legislature's intent to give homosexuals special rights.
What happens in the legislature between now and the day a lawsuit is filed challenging our Marriage statutes is very important. The legislature can either protect the definition of marriage by putting it in the Constitution, or it can erode the definition of marriage by passing other laws (like the four listed above that are pending this session) that create special rights for homosexuals. If they do the latter, marriage is even more subject to redifinition by an activist Court.
Speak to your legislator NOW about the importance of protecting marriage from redefinition. Let them know that "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" do not deserve special protection under the color of law. Be persistent!
