The Bilerico Project | Daily experiments in LGBTQ

In just over two weeks, on May 8, the LGBT community has an opportunity to defeat the antigay Religious Right forces behind the horrid antigay ballot measure Amendment One in North Carolina. Prop 8 mastermind Frank Schubert is now working in that red state (and in Maine where he is doing the same thing) organizing a faith-based effort to pass the antigay initiative. Next Sunday, April 29, Schubert and the antigay VoteForMarriage campaign are launching ”Marriage Sunday” that will promote the premise that churches and antigay Christians have a right to discriminate when it comes to civil marriages. In this video, with clear elements of the National Organization of Marriage's divisive strategy to pit African Americans against gays, Dr. Mark Creech, Executive Director of the Christian Action League, says:

"Politics simply means the affairs of the people. Jesus, our lord, was in the very middle of the affairs of the people. And he taught that his people ought to be in the very middle of the affairs of the people so the church has a role to play in bringing righteousness to bear upon the political process. And that's why it's so very important that the church be involved in this campaign to protect marriage as one man and one woman."

But the antigay Christian leaders are silent on the very real harm the initiative would have by recognizing ONLY heterosexual marriage as legal in the state – something the Chad Griffin/Mark Armour-produced TV ads with real people for the bi-partisan Protect All North Carolina Families campaign underscore by contrast. Wonder what Jesus would say about the churches intentionally harming children in His name. I mean - even David Blankenhorn, Protect Marriage's expert witness in the federal Prop 8 trial, opposes Amendment One.

Here's the antigay Vote FOR Marriage video to be shown next Sunday, followed by two ads from Griffin/Armour that will begin airing today.

Here’s the first ad from Protect All North Carolina Families. It is the story of Melissa and Libby and their 5 year old daughter. The campaign says, "Libby works for the city of Durham and they have healthcare coverage under Durham’s domestic partnership benefits plan. If the amendment passes, they are afraid that their daughter will lose her health care. And the cost of getting her an individual policy is prohibitive."

The second campaign ad "tells the story of Kristy, who is a survivor of domestic violence and currently has a protective order against her attacker. They were never married. She is afraid that a court could decide that her situation is not “domestic” because they were not married and that her protective order could be put in jeopardy.”

If you want to help make sure more people see these ads to counter what Schubert and the antigay Religious Right is putting out, please visit Protect All North Carolina Families or contribute at Act Blue.

Additionally, here's a video from the straight ally who put up $100,000 in a match fund grant on why he's involved in the campaign against Amendment One.