amendment one
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Local governments now have to muddle through the repercussions of North Carolina’s gay marriage ban.
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Video by Kathryn Carlson, Mika Chance and Carter McCall for WhichWayNC.com
The morning after Amendment One passed in North Carolina and placed a constitutional ban on gay marriage, Randy Gillis went for a walk to clear his head.
“It felt like North Carolina had changed overnight,” said Gillis, who is gay. “I felt like I was an alien.” To symbolize his opposition to the passage of this amendment, Gillis decided to walk 96 miles from his front door in Sophia, N.C. to the General Assembly in Raleigh.
His journey began June 9 and he arrived in Raleigh five days later, bringing with him 23 letters from people whose lives were impacted negatively by Amendment One. The letters were written by residents from around the state, both gay and straight, and were given to Gillis for delivery. All the letters were addressed to Sen. Peter Brunstetter, one of the architects of Amendment One.
Gillis mapped a route along the backroads of North Carolina to avoid having to walk along major highways, but he still faced three dog attacks, turtles in distress, rain storms and bulging blisters.
When Gillis arrived at the General Assembly, wearing a T-shirt with “GAY” painted on it along with a handmade “GAY” banner covering his backpack, he was met by two police officers. Once inside, Lt. Martin Brock of the General Assembly police informed Gillis that Sen. Brunstetter would be in budget discussions for the rest of the day and would not be able to meet with him.
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He’s being true to the principles he said he’d be true to. It may take a while but I think those of us in politics understand that you can’t wave a wand and change things because we have a political system that is designed to be obstructionist. That’s what it means not to have a tyrant, you have to work with people and he’s shown that he can do it.”
- Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt, North Carolina’s fifth openly gay elected official, discusses President Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage. Here’s our Q&A on Obama and Amendment One, North Carolina’s constitutional ban on gay marriage. -
Although North Carolina voters passed a constitutional ban on gay marriage 60-40 in the state’s May 8 primary, opponents of Amendment One are still making their voices heard.
Randy Gillis, a gay medical coder from Sofia, walked almost 100 miles from his hometown to the state’s capital Thursday to deliver a bundle of letters expressing residents’ opposition to the ban. After leaving the letters at the office of Sen. Peter Brunstetter (R-Forsyth), one of the amendment’s key sponsors, Gillis celebrated his accomplishment on a Raleigh street outside the legislature.
With President Barack Obama’s May 9 announcement of his support of gay marriage, the issue will likely impact the way many North Carolinians vote in November’s election.
Check out the images below to see how backlash against Amendment One has appeared on Tumblr:
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Which way will North Carolina go?
Once known as “the Dixie Dynamo,” North Carolina has long been characterized by its tug-of-war between tradition and progression. Now, the state is being torn between more than old and new patterns of thinking. It has become a political battleground — a place where liberal and conservative, urban and rural, and public and private interests all collide.
Awaiting an answer: What will Amendment One change?
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