In North Carolina, more evidence of Obama’s delicate approach to gay rights

[alp227]

By Amy Gardner, Washington Post, 4/24/12

Two weeks from now, North Carolina will hold a public referendum on what could become one of the toughest anti-gay measures in the country: a far-reaching proposal to amend the state constitution to ban civil unions and domestic partnerships. But President Obama is not expected to touch the subject when he appears in Chapel Hill on Tuesday — even though it is roiling the electorate there.

Instead, Obama will talk about college loans, his aides said, kicking off a two-day, three-state tour designed to energize the youth vote. His delicate sidestep of Amendment One, a ballot initiative to be decided May 8 that would recognize marriage between a man and a woman as the only legal domestic partnership in North Carolina, is seen by some as another sign that he is not fully committed to gay rights — an interpretation that could dampen the enthusiasm of the young voters he is trying to court.

(...)

The issue is particularly complicated in historically conservative North Carolina. Obama scraped together a razor-thin victory there four years ago with a multicultural coalition that included independents, African Americans and Hispanics — constituencies that are less uniformly enthusiastic about expanding gay rights than campus activists.

North Carolina is widely seen as a bigger challenge this year for Obama than it was in 2008, when he won with a margin of roughly 14,000 votes. Not only does the state’s unemployment rate continue to hover near 10 percent, but its Democratic Party is in disarray and is expected to be of little help to president: The Democratic governor, Beverly Perdue, is not popular and decided not seek reelection this year. The trial of embattled one-time presidential contender John Edwards began this week. And the state party organization is being rocked by a scandal, with its executive director forced out over sexual-harassment allegations.

full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-north-carolina-more-evidence-of-obamas-delicate-approach-to-gay-rights/2012/04/23/gIQAZAizcT_singlePage.html

[Warren Stupidity]

1. For some reason "tip toe through the tulips" comes to mind.

RIP Tiny.

[RKP5637]

3. Poor Tiny. I was once staying at a hotel in NYC after he had fallen

out of fame and had really put on weight. He looked sooo different. And there was a sadness about him. I was just in the same checkout line.

[RKP5637]

2. K&R !!! n/t

[Politicalboi]

4. This needs to be handled at

The federal level. I think if Obama is reelected, he will make it so. It's still a scary subject to some, and I don't want him to lose over it. Because if he loses, we are all dead anyway. Having gay marriage be legal from state to state is ridiculous. We need gay marriage to be recognized nationwide, otherwise, it doesn't work.

[Daniel537]

7. Your going to need a constitutional amendment for that to happen

or the SCOTUS to rule in favor of it. The first option will not happen, and the second one is highly unlikely.

[mnhtnbb]

5. Support for the amendment is beginning to drop in NC. I'm hoping that attorneys are waiting in the

wings to challenge it as a US Constitutional issue. It's clearly an attempt by religious organizations
to enshrine a religious view of a secular institution in a State Constitution--which should be unConstitutional.

If churches don't want to 'marry' gay couples, fine. Don't. That doesn't mean
they should be allowed to push a law (and they all are from the pulpit here in NC)
that enshrines their bigotry in the State Constitution.

[Carla in Sequim]

6. Glad to hear support is dropping.

The pill is another issue like this one. They are exempt from disbursing it but that just isn't good enough for them, is it?