NORTH CAROLINA: Faith Leaders Denounce Proposed Anti-Gay Marriage Ban

NORTH CAROLINA: Cops Vs. Activists

At yesterday's giant anti-gay rally in Raleigh, local police told a small group of counter-protesters that their "Equal Rites For All" sign would not be allowed. The cops backed off after the intervention of a local news reporter. Stick with the clip until the end and listen to the speaker at the podium rail against diseased homosexuals and warn the audience that "all forms of marriage in Scandinavia" have "disappeared" because of them there gays.

NORTH CAROLINA: Thousands Rally For Constitutional Marriage Ban

As Tony Perkins noted in a post several below this one, for the first time in a century the GOP now controls both chambers of the North Carolina legislature. Yesterday thousands rallied in Raleigh in support of the renewed push for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. North Carolina, which already bans gay marriage by statute, is the only southern state without a constitutional ban.

State Capitol Police estimated about 3,500 people participated in the marriage amendment rally behind the Legislative Building and organized by the Forsyth County-based Return America group. Visitors carried placards, American and Christian flags and listened to ministers and other speakers argue it's time for the voters to cast yes or no votes for the amendment. "We're here today to protect families and make sure every child retains the right to have both a mother and a father," Bill Brooks with the North Carolina Family Policy Council told the crowd on the Halifax Mall. "We're here today to preserve our right to religious freedom and our sincere belief that anything other than marriage shared between a man and a woman goes against God's design for creation."

(Video via Towleroad)

Tony Perkins On NC Marriage

"For the first time in over a century, Republicans hold a majority in the North Carolina House and Senate. That fact is not lost on Tar Heels conservatives, who are trying make the most of the opportunity by passing a Marriage Protection Amendment. Right now, two companion bills are making their way through the state capital to defend marriage. After seven years of trying, it's time for North Carolina to join the south in protecting marriage from pandering politicians and activist judges who would destroy the family to advance their careers! If you live in the Tar Heel state, I encourage you to get on the phone today and call your members at 919-733-4111. Ask them to give the people a voice--and a vote--on marriage." - Family Research Council head bigot Tony Perkins, via press release. NC residents...DO use the number Perkins provided.

NORTH CAROLINA: Christianists To Rally For Constitutional Marriage Ban

Good As You has the details.

CNN Asks: Should Gay Teachers Come Out In Their Classrooms?

Clip description:

Coming out of the closet at work is difficult, but when your job involves children, being openly gay can be even tougher. Steve Perry talks with Tom Greene (Chapel Hill High School), Robert McGarry (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) & Danielle Riley (Jordan High School).

I'm told that Tom Greene, the North Carolina history teacher profiled below, is a JMG regular.

PhoboQuotable - NC GOP Pol Bill James

"The purpose is not just to prevent Massachusetts people coming down. It's also to put a big letter of shame on the behavior. We don't want them here. We don't want them marrying. If you're going to do it in San Francisco, it's your own business. Bet it will pass with over 60 percent. The public in my opinion knows the difference between perversity and diversity." - Mecklinburg County Commissioner Bill James, predicting easy passage of North Carolina's pending constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

James has a long track record of outrageously homophobic statements, including his regularly-spouted claim that gays are "sexual predators" who are "7 to 11 times more likely to molest children." In December 2009 he mocked the AIDS-related death of a fellow legislator's child, saying to her, "You son was a HOMO? Really?" You can contact him here.

Same-sex marriage has long been banned in North Carolina by state statute, but a constitutional amendment has been swatted down for almost a decade by a Democrat majority legislature. Last year the GOP swept into power in both state chambers.

NORTH CAROLINA: 23 GOP State Pols Sponsor Ballot Ban On LGBT Unions

North Carolina GOP state Sen. James Forrester has introduced a ballot measure that would constitutionally ban the state from recognizing all LGBT unions. North Carolina already bans same-sex marriage by state statute.

Three-fifths of both the House and Senate must approve the amendment before it can appear on the ballot; the governor has no veto authority on amendments. Forrester, a Republican who has been the primary lead on the amendment for the past seven years, was joined in sponsoring the legislation by Jerry W. Tillman (R-Montgomery, Randolph) and Dan Soucek (R-Alexander, Ashe, Watauga, Wilkes). Twenty other senators, all Republican, are co-sponsoring the bill.

If approved, the measure will appear on the 2012 ballot.

NORTH CAROLINA: Tea Party-Backed School Board Reinstitutes Segregation

Wake County, North Carolina Republicans swept onto the Raleigh school board with the backing of the Tea Party are abolishing the busing of minority students from poor neighborhoods into better-funded school districts.

The new school board has won applause from parents who blame the old policy - which sought to avoid high-poverty, racially isolated schools - for an array of problems in the district and who say that promoting diversity is no longer a proper or necessary goal for public schools. "This is Raleigh in 2010, not Selma, Alabama, in the 1960s - my life is integrated," said John Tedesco, a new board member. "We need new paradigms." But critics accuse the new board of pursuing an ideological agenda aimed at nothing less than sounding the official death knell of government-sponsored integration in one of the last places to promote it. Without a diversity policy in place, they say, the county will inevitably slip into the pattern that defines most districts across the country, where schools in well-off neighborhoods are decent and those in poor, usually minority neighborhoods struggle.

The NAACP has filed a lawsuit. Wake County's school superintendent has resigned in protest. His expected replacement is a Tea Party activist and retired general who lists himself as a fan of Glenn Beck on his Facebook page.

NC State Rep. Larry Brown: Cut Off All AIDS Funding, Those Perverts Deserve It

North Carolina state Rep. Larry Brown says his state should eliminate all funding to treat adults with AIDS because it is caused by people living "perverted lifestyles."

Brown, R-Forsyth, made the comments when asked by the Winston-Salem Journal to talk about his goals for the N.C. General Assembly session set to begin this month. He began by discussing his support for a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to a union between one man and one woman, which would forestall any efforts to allow same-sex marriage. He went on to say he thinks the government shouldn't spend money to treat HIV among people "living in perverted lifestyles." "I'm not opposed to helping a child born with HIV or something, but I don't condone spending taxpayers' money to help people living in perverted lifestyles," said Brown, who ran unopposed in the November election to win a fourth term. Brown wouldn't say Tuesday what he considers perverted, but did say that adults who get HIV through sexual behavior or drugs would be among those who should not be treated at government expense.

Brown has a long track records of making outrageous anti-gay statements. In October he referred to openly gay lawmakers as "legislative fruitloops." Brown can be reached at 336-972-4256. His email: Larry.Brown@ncleg.net.

(Tipped by JMG reader Keith)

NORTH CAROLINA: Openly Gay Man Elected To Head Council Of Churches

An openly gay man has been elected to head North Carolina's Council of Churches. Stan Kimer, 55, is a retired businessman and a lay leader of the Metropolitan Community Church.

Only one other of the country's 33 similar church councils has elected an openly gay leader. Only one other of the country's 33 similar church councils has elected an openly gay leader. In California, a lesbian was elected president in the late 1990s. That makes Kimer's presidency of the N.C. Council - a coalition of 17 Christian denominations and eight individual churches that work on social issues - historic in the South. It also signals an acceptance among member denominations - Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians and Roman Catholics - that even if they have theological differences about homosexuality, they are OK with a gay man at the helm. Or at least, they don't see it as an issue worth fighting. "A lot of our member denominations have internal battles about this," said the Rev. George Reed, the council's executive director. "But the governing board felt the fact that he is a gay man was not a disqualifying factor."

A sample reader comment on the above-linked Charlotte Observer story: "Having him over the board of church's is like building a mosck on ground zero. Its obsurd!!!! If he is a true Christian and in fact reads the word of god then he should know how the lord feels about homosexuals. Sir you are an abomination and when you burn your smoke and ashes will ascend up to his nostrils like insence. Read it for yourself!!!"

NORTH CAROLINA: State Supreme Court Rules Against Second-Parent Gay Adoption

In what may be a precedent setting move, North Carolina's state Supreme Court has voided a second-parent adoption case in which an openly lesbian state legislator had adopted the biological son of her former partner. The case arose at the request of the biological mother, who no longer wants her former partner to have parental rights.

The ruling eliminates a method for same-sex couples to adopt and could raise legal questions about so-called second parent adoptions like this one. They have been granted in Durham and Orange counties in recent years, according to testimony and court documents. "If our uniform court system is to be preserved, a new form of adoption cannot be made available in some counties but not all," Newby wrote. For such two-parent adoptions to occur by parents of the same sex - granting inheritance and other rights to the child - same-sex marriage would have to be created in North Carolina or the adoption law would have to be changed, said Michelle Connell, a Winston-Salem lawyer and chairwoman of the family law section of the N.C. Bar Association.

(Tipped by JMG reader Rob)

NORTH CAROLINA: Lesbian Couple Booted From Raleigh-Area Mall For Kissing

With commentary from Raleigh native Clay Aiken.

Quote Of The Day - Larry Brown

"I hope all the queers are thrilled to see him. I am sure there will be a couple legislative fruitloops there in the audience." - North Carolina state Rep. Larry Brown (R), in a mass email about Equality NC awarding its annual leadership prize to NC House Speaker Joe Hackney. Pam Spaulding reports that Equality NC will be mailing a box of Fruit Loops to Rep. Brown with every donation they get before their gala awards event. And you can add your own personalized message to Brown with the box.

Today In Teabagger Campaign Ads

North Carolina nurse Renee Ellmers is anti-gay, anti-health care reform, anti-immigration, anti-abortion and thinks Big Oil should just drill the fuck out of her state's pristine coastal waters. Oh...and Islam of of the devil. Or something. Renee Ellmers for Congress.

(Via - Pam Spaulding)

NOM's Hate Tour Draws Tens In Raleigh

JMG reader Rob sends us a great photo gallery of yesterday's NOM Fail™ in Raleigh, where ace blogger Pam Spaulding took on some of her local wingnuts. Read Pam's hilarious account of her run-in with the mentally ill woman below.

Pastor Olden Thornton: Jeebus Is Coming Back To Fuck A Woman, Not A Man!

North Carolina televangelist Olden Thornton wants you to know that when Zombie Jeebus returns from the dead, he's coming for a bride. Just in case you were wondering. Thornton is a part of a new anti-gay group pushing for a voter referendum on marriage equality in North Carolina.

(Via - Good As You)

NORTH CAROLINA: Atheist Billboard Vandalized, Fundie Website Cheers

Less than one week after it went up, a billboard from the North Carolina Secular Association was vandalized. The Friendly Atheist notes the resulting cheer that went up on World Net Daily, who exulted today in a column titled My Kind Of Vandals.

Just when I start believing there is no hope for our country I get a little reminder from my God that all is not lost. It was reported June 29 that a billboard sign sponsored by a North Carolina atheist organization had been vandalized. The ad reads, "One Nation Indivisible." It seems someone didn't think the sign was an accurate depiction of our Pledge of Allegiance, so the vandals inserted "Under God" with spray paint – and I couldn't be more relieved. It's nice to know that I am not alone in my beliefs and that some people are still willing to stand on the right side of truth. Never would I encourage vandalism, but in this case I think I'll let it slide. Atheists have been vandalizing my beliefs for years, so it's about time the shoe was on the other foot.[snip]

I also need to extend a thank you to some people in Sacramento and Detroit. In February, 10 atheist billboards were defaced in the Golden State and a slew of atheist bus ads were vandalized in Detroit. My dose of honesty this week: I am not happy that vandalism seems to be the only way to get an atheist's attention. I'm happy that I can count on other Christians to stand up for themselves and for Christians everywhere. It gives me hope.

Of course, World Net Daily would be screaming bloody murder if their Where's The Birth Certificate? billboards were vandalized.

Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-NC) Apologizes For Roughing Up Student Reporter

VIDEO: Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-NC) Scuffles With Student Journalist

On his way out of a Democratic fundraiser headlined by Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-NC) got physical with a student journalist.

Video posted to YouTube today shows Rep. Bob Etheridge, D-NC, tussling with two men who approached him on a sidewalk asking about his support for the Obama administration. One of the men, who identifies himself as a student, asks, "Do you fully support the Obama agenda?" Etheridge responds by asking three times, "Who are you?" The man says, "I'm here for a project, sir." The congressman swats at the camera and grabs the man's wrist at 0:23, refusing to let go. When the student declines to say which university he is affiliated with, the congressman grabs the man by his neck at 0:44 before finally letting go.

The video was posted to the YouTube channel of Larry O'Connor, who blogs at right-winger Andrew Breitbart's Big Journalism and hosts a conservative internet radio show. It's not clear if O'Connor sent the students to confront Etheridge. It's a pretty creepy clip. Pam Spaulding thinks Etheridge should be arrested.