Equality in the News: May 9 - 15, 2009

It seems like every week now, we have another state to congratulate on marriage equality. This week, it's New Hampshire, who is thisclose to passing the bill. The governor requests more clear religious freedom protections in the legislation, and then he'll sign it into law. Seems reasonable enough to calm the fears of those on the fence. 6 states now (or within the coming weeks will) have full marriage equality!

On the home front, our state has been buzzing about the success of the School Violence Prevention Act's success in the Senate. To keep you up-to-date: Both the SVPA and Healthy Youth Act met the crossover deadline for bills, and they are one step closer to heading to the Governor's desk. So, keep those calls and e-mails to your Representatives and Senators coming! Here's this week's roundup:

• Raleigh's News & Observer was full of SVPA tidbits over the week, with an excellent column in support of the legislation, as well as a strong editorial supporting the bill. Doesn't stop there - there were also two great letters to the editor: one discussing how wrong it is to exclude LGBTs and one showing some religious compassion.
• Blue NC also features an article about some alarming statistics on bullying. Definitely worth checking out.
  
• Speaking of bullying, The Independent Weekly, a progressive news source out of the Triangle wrote about the School Violence Prevention Act's success and features some good quotes from Ian and mentions a lot of our great allies with this legislation. Check it out!
• Star News Online out of Wilmington has the story of the Frank Harr Foundation's honoring Sen. Julia Boseman for her outstanding efforts with the SVPA. Congratulations to one of our strongest advocates for equality!
• That Marriage Discrimination Amendment is still lurking around the NC State Legislature, and the wonderful folks at BlueNC have a great blog about it, specifically mentioning Advocates for Youth, yet another group who is opposed to this discriminatory legislation. You can also check out WRAL's report from "crossover day," and why Republicans are disappointed (hint: it's near the end of this article.)
  
• Further proof that the far-right isn't letting this bill die without a fight: A rally was held last week in Grifton, NC in support of "traditional marriage." ENC Today (not to be confused with us) has the sad story. The rally's sponsors are a new grassroots group called... wait for it... We Luv Marriage. I'm guessing "We Love Marriage" was already taken?
  
• Carrboro's community newspaper, the Carboro Citizen has an outstanding article on the benefits of the Healthy Youth Act, written by Paige Johnson - a wonderful ally of ours.
• Q-Notes has the story about how hopefully we're one step closer to justice in this tragedy, as the Fayetteville police arrested a suspect in the murder of drag performer Jimmy McCollough.
  
• The Moderate Voice has an interesting article on the new documentary film "Outrage" that's been getting a lot of buzz. (It seeks to out closeted politicians with strong anti-gay voting records - pretty controversial.) It features some quotes from our board member, Dan Gurley.

That's all for now! Stay tuned for next week's roundup, and enjoy your weekend!

PS - We want to say a quick congratulations to all of our supporters who are graduating from college! Having your support while you're dealing with all the stress of college means the world to us, and we wish you only the best in your future endeavors.