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Loading...Facebook Co-Founder Slams NC Anti-Gay Amendment
Ahead of North Carolina’s GOP-led General Assembly debating a constitutional amendment that, if enacted by voters at the 2012 ballot, would codify a ban on same-sex marriage in the state — as well as civil unions and probably domestic partnerships too — Facebook co-founder and North Carolina native Chris Hughes has written an open letter to GOP lawmakers telling them that the ban is discriminatory, may harm job creation and the state’s economic prospects, and should be abandoned.
Read the letter below:
An Open Letter to the North Carolina General Assembly:
I’m writing today to express my deep concern and fervent opposition to the proposed anti-gay constitutional amendment, SB106/HB777.
As the co-founder of Facebook, I have some experience with the challenges of attracting the kind of driven, dynamic and diverse employees it takes to build a fledgling start-up into a full- fledged economic success story.
Companies like Facebook, Google and Apple are the future of our global economy. But the proposed anti-gay constitutional amendment signals to these and other major employers, as well as their mobile, educated employees, that North Carolina does not welcome the diverse workforce that any state needs to compete in the international marketplace.
In short, this amendment is bad for business, bad for the perception of my home state on the national stage, and a far cry from job-creating legislation that North Carolina lawmakers should be focused on.
But the negative business impact is far from the only harm of this amendment. Growing up in a conservative atmosphere in Hickory, North Carolina, I felt first-hand the stigma of being different in a Southern state’s a feeling that made it clear to me that I was not welcome in North Carolina.
The proposed discriminatory legislation will only perpetuate this stigma for a new generation of creative, talented youth, uninterested in second-class citizenship in a state they call home. Gay and lesbian North Carolinians work hard, contribute to society, and want to protect their families like everyone else. Their families deserve the same respect and the same treatment as everyone else, and they should not be exposed to the derogatory and harmful anti-gay rhetoric that inevitability accompanies these kinds of campaigns. North Carolina deserves better than that.
The next Facebook or Apple or Google could be created by another North Carolinian. Be mindful of how you treat them and their families.
Chris Hughes Co-founder of Facebook and North Carolina native.
Hughes, as part of his effort to defeat the amendment, also pledged to donate $10, up to the amount of $10,000, for every new person who “liked” Equality North Carolina on Facebook. Equality North Carolina has led a tough and dedicated campaign against the amendment. Within hours of making this announcement, the group reached its goal of 10,000 new supporters and the donation promise was fulfilled.
The North Carolina GOP has been called out for its use of anti-gay rhetoric ahead of the debate. Prior to this, Republican legislators had largely insisted that they just wanted to put the chance at codifying the state’s statutory ban before voters. In recent weeks however, certain GOP lawmakers have fallen back on old, tired arguments about gay marriage being the same as legalizing incest and polygamy, and how the constitutional amendment is necessary to protect the institution of marriage and the state’s children.
While North Carolina residents overwhelmingly support keeping their statutory ban on same-sex marriage, a new poll by Public Polling Policy (PPP) says that a majority would reject a constitutional amendment enshrining the state’s gay marriage ban if it also blocks same-sex couples from all legal recognition. Read more on that here.
Related Reading:
NC Rep: Gay Marriage Philosophically Same as Incest, Polygamy
Read more: gay marriage, lgbt Facebook, lgbt NC, lgbt North Carolina, marriage equality, north carolina, same-sex marriage
Image used under the Creative Commons Attribution License with thanks to Necatpace.ORG
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
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+ add your own"...the constitutional amendment is necessary to protect the institution of marriage and the state’s children."
Hey, legislators of N.C.! What about the children growing up with same gender parents? Don't they also have the right to be protected? I guess not. Their parents will be second class citizens and themselves third class. Is that your aim? Shame on you!
Ahhh yes, the "Good Christian" Right, the anti-Christ's of the United States, and the legislature of North Carolina is your flag waver. You obviously can't spell diversity or equality, and hate and bigotry are your passwords. All you pompous "wheels" with your mistress's on the side in clandestine locations. You're the picture of Family Values in the daylight, and drunken whore chasers at night. And you think you have the right to legislate the rights of others and decide who they will love, who they will live with, and what their sexual preference will be. How dare you! You are just looking for another reason to start lynching innocent people. You have risen from the primordial ooze, and to it you should return!
"The next Facebook or Apple or Google could be created by another North Carolinian. Be mindful of how you treat them and their families."
Hewing to the biologically sound, time-honored understanding of marriage does no harm to gay persons. Indeed, it's the only way to produce more of them. You'd think the gay lobby would give a little leeway on this vital issue. You know, a little live and let live.
And the world economy relies on quite a lot more development and activity than social networking web sites that don't substitute that well for actual human contact. Mr. Hughes overstates the relevance of his particular, indeed narrow contribution.
It's refreshing to see people take a stand for whats right. Grats to him..
WAY TO STAND UP CHRIS. I'D BE PROUD TO BE YOUR MOTHER.
Thanks for the article.
@Diana P.
Yet again poor wording is inexcusable on your part. LGBT people do not have a choice in the matter. Its like saying being born with blond hair is a "choice". Please consider wording in the future.
I though that this was AMERICA and we were not to discriminate. Or doesn't that apply to Gays??? PLAIN AND SIMPLE, Their choice and we should not discriminate.
May his and the voices of LGBT folk be heard and followed.
That's really messed up how the governments think they can get invovled in people's marriages and relationships.
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