About 100 people gathered on Saturday
at a Baptist church to oppose a proposed constitutional amendment
which would ban gay marriage in North Carolina, the Associated
Baptist Press reported.
The rally, titled NC Baptists
Against Amendment One: Justice, Equality and Personal Freedom and
held at Myers Baptist Church in Charlotte, is the first of three
events planned to defeat Amendment One on May 8.
“The classic argument for support of
Amendment One is that it will strengthen traditional marriages,”
said Ricky Woods, senior minister at Charlotte's First Baptist
Church-West. “The greatest threat to traditional marriage is
divorce, and the reasons for divorce most often have to do with
infidelity and financial problems. So let's outlaw unemployment and
infidelity.”
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.
(Related: Support
for North Carolina gay marriage ban drops 3 months in a row.)
The rally was the first of three events
planned by the Many
Voices, One Love campaign sponsored by several progressive
Baptist groups, Protect NC Families, the coalition working against
passage of the amendment, and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the
nation's largest gay rights advocate.