Repeal Amendment One: An amendment that violates equality for all cannot stand

While the outcome of the May 8 election is a setback for both unmarried homosexual and heterosexual couples, the battle against Amendment One must rage on.

And since many of the counties that voted against the amendment are home to colleges and universities, students and faculty at UNC and other institutions must continue to play an active role in making sure the amendment is repealed.

Amendment One violates the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states, “No State shall … deprive any person of life, liberty or property without the due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law.”

As Amendment One dissolves both heterosexual and homosexual civil unions, many of the rights afforded to such couples are no longer valid.

For example, the new law may make it more difficult for one partner of an unmarried couple ­— whether a homosexual or heterosexual — to maintain custody over his or her child should the partner with primary custody die or become incapacitated.

Many voters in North Carolina were unaware of such effects prior to election day.

A recent poll showed only 36 percent of the population understood the amendment would ban both gay marriage and civil unions; 26 percent thought the amendment only banned gay marriage, and 10 percent thought voting against it would actually legalize gay marriage.

Twenty-seven percent said they didn’t know what effect the amendment would have on families.
The numbers alone provide a basis for a repeal of the amendment. They also show that if people had been better informed, the outcome would have been different. When told about the legal ramifications of the law, only 38 percent of voters continue to support it and 46 percent oppose it.

Many of the proponents for the law argued that the amendment upheld Christian religious principles. The Rev. Billy Graham, who is 93 years old, made phone calls to North Carolina families in the week leading up to the amendment, said, “The Bible is clear — God’s definition of marriage is between a man and a woman.”

This argument also opposes the U.S. Constitution, as the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights provides for separation of church and state.

As federal law overrides state law, a repeal of Amendment One seems fairly clear cut. The U.S. Supreme Court will soon debate Proposition 8, a similar law in California. Many hope it will be overturned.

If students and members of the community want to see Amendment One repealed, they must work to make their voices heard and inform other citizens about the effects of this legislation.

The history of this country is filled with a plethora of legislative mistakes — Jim Crow laws and the disenfranchisement of women to name a couple.

But there’s a system in place to help fix those mistakes. It’s important that we figure out how to use it to fix this one.

This civil rights issue will define our generation. We must make sure we remain on the right side of it.