North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue
is urging voters to reject a proposed constitutional amendment which
would ban gay marriage in the state.
The 65-year-old Perdue on Thursday
released a video on YouTube in which the Democrat said that the
amendment, if approved on May 8, could hurt families and businesses
in the state.
“Amendment One is a proposed
constitutional amendment that could harm families and businesses
across North Carolina,” Perdue said in the video.
“Whatever your personal, moral,
religious views may be, writing discrimination into North Carolina's
Constitution is just plain wrong.”
“It would ban the state from
recognizing civil unions, strip away domestic partner benefits, and
it actually could eliminate legal protections for all unmarried
couples in this state. The amendment could also harm children,
because some children of unmarried parents could lose their health
care and their prescription drug coverage.”
“Our constitution was written to
guarantee rights, not to take them away,” Perdue said in closing.
“So, on May 8 I'll be casting my vote against Amendment One. I
hope you will join me and do the same.” (The video is embedded in
the right panel of this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
(Related: Prop
8 Supporter David Blankenhorn opposes North Carolina gay marriage
ban.)