The title of the article is “Backers of North Carolina’s Gay Marriage Ban: State No Longer Vulnerable.” And this in the body:
North Carolina voters approved a constitutional amendment Tuesday night banning gay marriage, but the measure also goes one step further by not allowing civil unions.
Wow. North Carolinians can sleep peacefully, now, and walk the streets without fear. All those gay men and women who simply want civil rights will be unable to pose a threat to the state.
Rachel Lee, a spokeswoman for Vote For Marriage NC, partied hearty in Raleigh as the election results signaled that moment when a vanilla wedding cake with a bride and groom atop could be cut and consumed with what must have been a huge sigh of relief. To live without fear is, now, codified. Lee said:
If you looked at a map of our country, you saw North Carolina as the only one in the Southeast without an amendment preserving marriage between a man and a woman. North Carolina had a target on her back.
At a time when 50% of Americans approve gay marriage, the Southeast proudly can advertise that it offers more security than other parts of the country. Billboards should line interstates with the assurance that not just residents but, also, vacationers are protected from those menacing gays who are legally wed or united via civil unions.
And, really, no one should be concerned about the insurance implications—you know, minor things like health benefits for domestic partners. As long as more people can live without the distress of even having to think about gay married couples, there will be salubrious effects, benefitting the majority.
Another vote is needed, though–one to ban divorce in any state that denies gay men and women the right to marry. The sanctity of marriage must be preserved. The bottom line isn’t just safety; it’s also sacredness.
Missy Beattie lives in Baltimore, Maryland. missybeat@gmail.com.
