Equality in the News: April 4 - April 9, 2009

Another exciting week for equality! Vermont overrides the veto, Washington D.C. recognizes same-sex marriages now, and strides in transgender equality are being made in New Hampshire and Washington state. Plus plenty going on right here in the Tar Heel State. I've conveniently gathered all the Equality-related news for you again this week, so let's get to it!

• Turns out Samantha Korb, who graciously shared her bullying story with us, is also an excellent writer. You can read her article for The Carolinian (UNCG's Student Newspaper) on the School Violence Prevention Act here.
• Very tragic news out of Massachusetts this week, as it was revealed that an 11-year old boy, Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, committed suicide. His mother claims it was due to the torment of his classmates - which included anti-gay harassment. First this, now this?! It shouldn't take examples like these to get legislation like the School Violence Prevention Act passed. All kids deserve to feel safe in school. If you haven't yet, please e-mail us your story to help us raise awareness about the bullying that occurs in our state.
• Jack McKinney, a pastor of the Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh, has an article supporting the School Violence Prevention Act in the News & Observer. You can read that article here. Be sure to check out the comments and share your thoughts - there's a good one about the bill secretly trying to codify sexual orientation and normalize homosexuality. If only we were that good at lying.
  
• The Durham News featured one of our favorites, Pam Spaulding, in an article written by her about the Day of Action. It's a great article that discusses the strange dynamics felt that day between our African-American supporters and members of the legislature's Black Caucus. You can stop by here to check it out.
• For the polling geeks out there: a really nifty model was crafted by FiveThirtyEight, a political polling website with lots of really cool information and polls. This model uses recent marriage discrimination amendment votes and polling to predict when a majority in each state will have majority opposition to these amendments. Take a look and see when they predict North Carolina will jump on the bandwagon.
• Speaking of marriage, 3 more counties passed resolutions in support of the Marriage Discrimination Amendment. Q-Notes has the story here.
• The Healthy Youth Act, legislation to give parents the option between comprehensive and abstinence-only sex-education, sailed through committee again and goes to the House next week. We're supportive of this LGBT-inclusive legislation, and we'd love for you to call your Representative and remind them to vote for this effective policy. To find your elected official, click here.

That about does it for this week. We'll see you back here next Friday for another exciting news roundup! Equality NC wishes everyone a safe and wonderful holiday weekend. Enjoy yourselves!