Former U.S. President Bill Clinton has recorded a “robo call” to mobilize North Carolinians to vote in opposition to Amendment One, a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
In the recorded, Clinton said that if Amendment One passes, “it won’t change North Carolina’s law on marriage. What it will change is North Carolina’s ability to keep good businesses, attract new jobs, and attract and keep talented entrepreneurs.”
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Amendment One is on the North Carolina primary ballot next Tuesday, May 8.
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If approved by voters, the North Carolina state constitution would be amended to prohibit all “domestic legal unions” other than between “a man and a woman” as the only domestic legal unions “valid or recognized in this state.”
At the very least, the amendment would clearly ban relationship rights beyond same-sex marriage, and also bar recognition of civil unions, as well as the domestic partnerships now offered to public employees in some North Carolina municipalities.
Earlier in the week, Clinton’s daughter Chelsea, also spoke in opposition to Amendment One:
“I believe that everyone must stand up for what is right, whenever possible, wherever possible. I also believe that when the civil rights of any one American or group of Americans in one place are questioned, all Americans, everywhere, should care that the answer is the right one. Those are lessons I learned at a young age from my parents and they are guiding principles in my life.” Chelsea Clinton said.
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“It is our duty to join the fight on behalf of both the gay and lesbian North Carolinians who were the original targets of the amendment and the tens of thousands of straight male and female North Carolinians who will be collateral damage if the amendment passes next Tuesday.”
Chelsea Clinton said the amendment “unfairly targets women, children and families, gay and straight, who fall outside of the narrow definition of family articulated by those who drafted the legislation.
