NOM comes to Raleigh, North Carolinians protest: A Photo Blog

(Thanks to ENC Communication Intern Matthew McGibney.)

The so-called National Organization of Marriage has spent the summer traveling across the country holding (poorly-attended) rallies in support of marriage inequality, so when they made a stop in Raleigh this morning, Equality NC Executive Director Ian Palmquist and I decided to go over and check out the counter-protest.

Here's a picture of one group (it went down the block too far to get everyone in one shot!):

Equality NC did not organize the counter-protest, which included more than 100 people, but Ian made himself available to local press to make sure there would be a marriage equality perspective to the stories.

The NOM people gave their speeches across the street from us, and we chanted in response. There were no problems at all while we were there, and it was nice to see that we outnumbered them by a considerable margin.

Here's a picture of the NOM lectern before they arrived...


...and here's the area after the NOM people came out (as it were). Yes, that is a sign that says "Straight Pride" attached to a baseball bat. It's probably a good thing the police were there!



No baseball bats for this guy...



...or these people:

Several families brought their children. This kid has a future in sign making...

... but he will never reach the sign-making heights of this woman:

It was nice to see some many people take some time off work to come out and support the cause of marriage equality in North Carolina.