Amendment I

I met Sarah Livengood in 1996. We were 17. At the end of the month, we'll be celebrating out 10th wedding anniversary. My brother Daniel and his wife Lauren were married in Raleigh a year ago yesterday (Happy Anniversary to them!).

When we met, Sarah's little brother Cory would have been 12. I guess he's 27 or 28 now--gee whiz, can that be right? He's my brother-in-law, he's the skinny guy in the video above. And today, the people of the state of his birth and mine will, in all likelihood, vote to amend the state constitution to be doubly sure that the state will not recognize any loving and committed relationship he may have with another man.

Gay marriage is already prevented by the laws of the State of North Carolina. As are same-sex civil unions. To say that this new amendment is an unnecessary piece of legislation is an understatement. If the amendment fails, nothing that is illegal today will be legal tomorrow. This is preventative legislation written to ensure that a discriminatory law that is already on the books will be all the more difficult to overturn. Moreover, it writes new forms of discrimination into the state constitution, disallowing even the creation of civil unions or any other state recognition of loving and committed relationships between two people of the same gender.

It is unconscionable. It is malicious. And it will probably pass. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't vote against it, if you are so able.