Singer Clay Aiken has come out against
a proposed constitutional amendment which would ban gay marriage in
North Carolina.
Voters will decide on the measure
during North Carolina's May 8 presidential primary.
If approved, the amendment would bar
North Carolina from recognizing the relationships of gay and lesbian
couples with marriage, civil unions and possibly domestic
partnerships.
The former American Idol
contestant said the amendment went too far in a video posted to
YouTube on Monday.
“Families look different. They have
always looked different. You have single-parent families, families
with parents of different races, families with parents of different
religions. No matter what we want a family to look like, we can't
put into a constitution – a document that is supposed to protect
our rights – one narrow definition. I think an amendment like this
goes way too far.”
The openly gay Aiken, who became a
father in 2008 with the birth of his son Parker, added that the
amendment would hurt kids.
“It will take away protections from
kids who, right now, may have access to healthcare because one of
their parents has healthcare at work,” Aiken said. “It will take
away some of those protections from kids.” (The video is embedded
in the right panel of this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)