Social Justice

By unanimous vote, the Board of Trustees of the Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship passed the following statement at its January 17, 2012 meeting:

We the Board of Trustees of the Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship believe that Amendment 1, currently on the May ballot in North Carolina, violates fundamental human rights and should be opposed.

We affirm the basic right of same-gender couples to marry and to share fully and equally in the rights, responsibilities and commitments of civil marriage.

We strongly oppose this amendment for the following reasons: it removes rights from and threatens the health of North Carolina's citizens, LGBT and heterosexual alike; it threatens North Carolina's families' ability to protect and care for their family members through, for example, provision of insurance benefits, hospital visitation, establishment of wills and trusts, ability to make financial and medical decisions, and end-of-life arrangements; it threatens the wellbeing of all North Carolina youth and especially LGBT youth and the children of same-gender parents; it will dissuade new businesses from locating in North Carolina and discourage further business development in the state, and it does not serve to protect marriage for anyone.

We resolve to raise awareness of the discriminatory and harmful effects of this amendment and to take all appropriate actions as a faith community to encourage voters in North Carolina to vote against it.

Ross McKinney, Chair, Sue Coon, Dan Grandstaff, Albert Hardy, Jim McCrae, Larry Reed, Peter Romeyn, Judy Teague