I just really want the Republican-held North Carolina General Assembly to go away. But before that can happen, we need to stop Amendment One.
If you’re not familiar with Amendment One, the following text—as it will appear on primary ballots May 8—should give you a pretty good idea: “Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State.”
I would be more upset about the discriminatory nature of this amendment if I weren’t so heartened by how it is bringing elements of the Duke community together.
“We had realized that while individual efforts could probably do something against the amendment, working under something collaborative would be a lot more effective,” noted junior Elena Botella in an interview. She’s the president of Duke Democrats, one of the leaders of the Duke Together Against Constitutional Discrimination coalition and a current columnist for The Chronicle. This group encompasses people from “so may different parts of the University, like staff at the medical center, professors, undergraduates, graduate students and people who work in offices I’ve never even heard of.”
The other leader is sophomore Jacob Tobia, Duke Student Government director of LGBTQ affairs and policy. He added that the coalition is bringing together “not just activists, but people who hadn’t been involved with advocacy before, who feel like now is the time.”
Now IS the time. There is an imminent urgency to these efforts to defeat Amendment One; I worry that people don’t realize the wide-reaching implications of its passage.
Amendment One would add more barriers to the legalization of same-sex marriage in North Carolina. It prevents public employers (such as the University of North Carolina and the Durham municipality) from providing competitive benefits to those in domestic partnerships. It essentially bans all legal recognition of relationships—both heterosexual and same-sex—outside of marriage. A serious repercussion is that this amendment would have the potential to invalidate protections against domestic violence. Dean of Students Sue Wasiolek agreed that the potential ramifications are “broader than people know.”
Basically, Amendment One sucks in many, many ways. Fortunately, our community has the Duke Together coalition, which is actively working to defeat its passage.
The coalition’s leaders hope that their efforts will be aided by the likely presence of an on-campus early voting site, which would exist as of April 19. “We highly anticipate having one,” Botella said, “and we would be highly surprised if there was not one, though it’s not written in stone yet.” The potential impact of this site would be massive: Instead of having to leave campus to vote, students would only have to take five minutes out of their day to do so.
Botella noted, “The difference between having an on-campus early voting site and not is probably a difference between getting 500 students to vote and getting 5000; it’s that dramatic.”
Tobia encouraged Duke students to register to vote in the state, arguing, “It doesn’t make any sense at this point for any Duke student to not be a registered North Carolina voter. We’re a swing state.” If you’re worried about being able to vote in your home state’s general election, you can register to vote in this primary AGAINST Amendment One, and then vote in November for whomever you care about at home.
The Duke Together coalition is filming a video with the theme “Make it Better” to encourage members of the community to get involved; they’ve even received the support of various Duke administrators. Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, wrote in an email that he agreed to be in the video “because it’s the right thing to do … I abhor prejudice and bias and if I can help be supportive of our LGBT community in any way and in any way contribute to minimization of homophobia and prejudice, I’m all in.” He added that the administration is “all set to make [the on-campus early voting site] happen once the city gives us the green light.”
Even though the University can’t take an official position on Amendment One, I found considerable opposition to its values among the administrators I interviewed, including the Vice President for Public Affairs and Government Relations, Michael Schoenfeld. He wrote in a recent email that the University “thinks it is vital to support, celebrate and affirm Duke’s commitment to a society free from discrimination of any kind … and believe[s] it is essential that we continue to offer benefits to same sex partners, and work towards an environment of equality and inclusion.”
This commitment is being realized through the actions of the Duke Together coalition. Leaders Tobia and Botella both emphasized that constitutions are forever—the language in them doesn’t go away, and can’t be overturned easily.
If you want to get involved with Duke Together, you can register as a captain, after which you will be held accountable for turning your friends and dorm-mates out to vote. Visit their website, duketogether.org, and check out protectncfamilies.org and equalitync.org. On Feb. 17, the Race to the Ballot initiative will be visiting campus on their run across the state. Stop by and contribute to this movement’s momentum.
Samantha Lachman is a Trinity junior. Her column usually runs every other Thursday. You can follow her on Twitter at @SamLachman.
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