Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt has
called on North Carolinians to vote against Amendment One.
On Tuesday, voters will decide on the
amendment which would bar the state from recognizing the
relationships of gay and lesbian couples with marriage, civil unions
and possibly domestic partnerships.
In a video released Monday by Protect
All North Carolina Families, the group working to defeat the ban,
Kleinschmidt, who is openly gay and was first elected to lead the
city in 2009, says he believes the measure would force cities to stop
offering domestic partner benefits.
“There are 8 jurisdictions in North
Carolina who provide domestic partner benefits for same-sex couples.
Actually, for any couples where one of the members is an employee of
the county or city. Here in Chapel Hill we were the second city to
do it.”
“It's been [a] very successful policy
for us. And I think that's why … the policy has been adopted by
other jurisdictions.”
“As soon as the constitution is
altered to forbid recognition of domestic partners, then the town of
Chapel Hill, not withstanding all the good will that we have and the
great history we have for providing domestic partner benefits, will
be prevented – forbidden – from recognizing those domestic
partner relationships. That puts those employees at risk, their
families, their partners, their children. It makes it harder for us
to recruit and retain employees.” (The video is embedded in the
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