On Bigotry: North Carolina's Amendment One
North Carolina passed a terrible Constitutional amendment today, banning gay marriages and imposing a bunch of restrictions on unmarried couples, regardless of orientation. In a stroke, they discriminated against homosexuals and anyone who chooses not to marry, revoking hospital visitation rights, parental privileges, and preexisting restraining orders against abusive partners.
I have a lot of friends in North Carolina, since attending Duke TIP camps in Durham and the relocation of some Oklahoma contacts to the Carolinas. I've always found it a friendly place to visit, retaining all the hospitality and openness of the South, with little of the backwards tendencies native to my own home state. Apparently, I was misled by the atypical political climate of Raleigh-Durham. Some of my friends in North Carolina identify as GLBT, and their futures are a little less promising because of tonight's result. One friend has same-sex parents, and finds her parents' relationship officially invalidated by a majority of the popular vote. This declaration by the state of North Carolina that unmarried adults are unfit to be parents will likely take a toll on children raised by unmarried parents, regardless of sex or orientation. For kids under 18, who knows what ramifications this idiotic bill will have on custody status. The people of North Carolina sure don't, but I'm sure we'll find out in a series of hard-fought court battles spanning the next decade or so.
Today, North Carolina surprised me by joining the ever-increasing number of states who seem determined to stand in the way of progress until a federal mandate forces them to extend equal citizenship to everyone. It is absurd that the same generation that once witnessed the struggle against "separate but equal" and women's fight for access to contraception, legal abortion, and equal treatment in the workplace is now standing by to watch the same battles fought again, unable to see the parallels or unable to care.
The bigotry in this country is astounding. I'm supposed to be studying for finals, but I can't stop thinking about it. Here I am, just starting life as a thinking adult in a country that can't seem to stop sinking into stagnation and wallowing proudly in its ignorance. I fear for the reproductive rights of women and the academic freedom of scientists already hampered by legislation created by the uninitiated and uninformed. I fear for the civil rights of all of us, if the United States stays on this path.
I'm moving to Minnesota in less than a month, where a similar ban on gay marriage will be put to the vote of the people in November. I have to get involved as soon as I get there. I don't want Minnesota to be the next state to let me down. But if it does, I don't want to stand by and watch it happen.
I have a lot of friends in North Carolina, since attending Duke TIP camps in Durham and the relocation of some Oklahoma contacts to the Carolinas. I've always found it a friendly place to visit, retaining all the hospitality and openness of the South, with little of the backwards tendencies native to my own home state. Apparently, I was misled by the atypical political climate of Raleigh-Durham. Some of my friends in North Carolina identify as GLBT, and their futures are a little less promising because of tonight's result. One friend has same-sex parents, and finds her parents' relationship officially invalidated by a majority of the popular vote. This declaration by the state of North Carolina that unmarried adults are unfit to be parents will likely take a toll on children raised by unmarried parents, regardless of sex or orientation. For kids under 18, who knows what ramifications this idiotic bill will have on custody status. The people of North Carolina sure don't, but I'm sure we'll find out in a series of hard-fought court battles spanning the next decade or so.
Today, North Carolina surprised me by joining the ever-increasing number of states who seem determined to stand in the way of progress until a federal mandate forces them to extend equal citizenship to everyone. It is absurd that the same generation that once witnessed the struggle against "separate but equal" and women's fight for access to contraception, legal abortion, and equal treatment in the workplace is now standing by to watch the same battles fought again, unable to see the parallels or unable to care.
The bigotry in this country is astounding. I'm supposed to be studying for finals, but I can't stop thinking about it. Here I am, just starting life as a thinking adult in a country that can't seem to stop sinking into stagnation and wallowing proudly in its ignorance. I fear for the reproductive rights of women and the academic freedom of scientists already hampered by legislation created by the uninitiated and uninformed. I fear for the civil rights of all of us, if the United States stays on this path.
I'm moving to Minnesota in less than a month, where a similar ban on gay marriage will be put to the vote of the people in November. I have to get involved as soon as I get there. I don't want Minnesota to be the next state to let me down. But if it does, I don't want to stand by and watch it happen.
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