Students, alumni and Raleigh residents marched from the Bell Tower to Halifax Mall in protest of an upcoming amendment to North Carolina’s Constitution, which will be on the ballot May 8.
The event, called the Ides of March, took place yesterday afternoon.
Amendment One would define marriage as being between one man and one woman. Protesters are working to raise awareness to North Carolinians who have the chance to vote on the Amendment.
David Hook, graduate student in engineering, volunteered at the event through Honesty N.C. because he feels passionate about the gay marriage issue.
“The point was to show people across the state and maybe people across the country that there is a body of North Carolinians that do not feel the way that legislature appears to feel,” Hook said.
Hook said the amendment inaccurately represents North Carolinians on several levels and should not be put in the N.C. Constitution.
“It does not need to be in a document that supports itself as what North Carolina was founded on,” Hook said.
Hook said that the amendment represents problems similar to that of the Civil Rights movement half a century ago.
“The definition of separate but equal very neatly fits into that definition [of gay marriage],” Hook said. “I thought that we agreed years ago that separate but equal was bad; that’s reason one.”
Ian O’Keefe, deputy director for Campus Coalition to protect all North Carolina families, participated in the protest with his organization.
“This was an event advocating for love and advocating against Amendment One,” O’Keefe said.
O’Keefe explained that the amendment is particularly harmful because it solidifies a law that is already in place.
“The amendment was originally designed to make homosexual marriage illegal, but homosexual marriage is already illegal in North Carolina,” O’Keefe said. “This makes it so there can never be any civil unions, no domestic partnerships… and domestic partnerships are available in North Carolina in nine municipalities.”
The amendment would take away the rights that some North Carolinians already have, specifically those who are part of a domestic partnership.
“It would strip away all of those protections for those domestic partners, all of the healthcare benefits for all of those kids, and all the families who aren’t biologically related,” O’Keefe said. “This amendment is overall very harmful.”
Peter Lam, an N.C. State alumnus, volunteered at the event with Honesty N.C., and said the issue affects people of all walks of life.
“The amendment is pretty much discriminating against all,” Lam said. “Additionally to gay people, it is discriminating to straight people, people who want to have a civil union.”
“There are a whole range of issues that come with Amendment One,” Lam said.
Lam said that in addition to Amendment One, Honesty N.C. has worked on other issues touching North Carolinians.
“There are several issues that we have tried to work on, and I think that Amendment One was one of a few issues that tried to bring attention to the people of North Carolina,” Lam said,
Hook said that North Carolinians should participate in voting on the amendment and find their polling location ahead of time.
“They can find their polling location on rockthevote.com or honestnc.org/vote,” Hook said. “If you want to vote early, you can just head right downtown to the elections office and vote whenever you want after April 19.”
Students who aren’t registered to vote can do so online at ncsbe.gov.