The Vote Against Project

Diary Entry #22: My Letter to the Editor

I recently submitted this letter to the Editor of my hometown paper. If selected, it will be published this week and printed in a paper that will be read on kitchen tables of many childhood family friends. My hope is to both educate and inspire those that surrounded me in my childhood church, school, and community – encouraging those who may vote ‘for’ the Amendment, to vote ‘against’ it on May 8.

I have vivid memories of sunny April Sunday mornings growing up in Fuquay-Varina. With flowers in bloom and skies the bluest of blue, my Sunday mornings were filled with church dresses and Sunday morning hymns. Like clockwork, my family would rise and attend church just one street over from my childhood home. With the church bells ringing as we exited the church, I would always leave feeling hopeful for the week to come. Although I no longer live in Fuquay, those Sunday mornings remain fresh in my mind — and when reminiscing, I continue to feel hopeful for both the week — and years — to come.

I have been told that in some NC churches, this past Sunday was considered ‘Marriage Sunday’ — an effort by the group ‘Vote for Marriage’ to bring focus and attention to the upcoming Amendment that will be on our May 8 ballot. The Amendment is asking voters to either vote ‘for’ or ‘against’ a constitutional amendment to provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in the State. After looking at the ‘Vote for Marriage’ website and reading about Marriage Sunday, I was disheartened to learn the focus and intent of their ‘educational’ day.

The message was slated to ‘inform’ church members about reasons why, as Christians, folks should vote ‘for’ the constitutional amendment on May 8. As a Christian, hospice social worker, and native Fuquay-Varinian, I could not stand by and watch many churches preach to their congregations misleading untruths about the approaching amendment. The main theme of the message is the preservation of marriage in NC — a message that, I believe, misinforms the public about the effects of the amendment, if passed.

My belief, as well as many other citizens, is that the amendment actually protects no one. The unintended effects of the amendment has the potential to strip North Carolina families and children of basic health care, threaten parental rights, and throw basic protections like domestic violence laws into what many are calling ‘legal chaos’ — side effects that could affect all unmarried North Carolinians — gay or straight — if it is approved.

If the amendment does not pass, gay marriage will still remain unrecognized in NC after May 8. What some do not know is that those who hold strongly to the ‘preservation’ of marriage between one man and one woman and feel that homosexuality is wrong can STILL, in good conscience, vote against the amendment — and help protect all NC children and families.

As Christians and human beings, we are called to help those in need. James 1:27 states, ‘Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress’. On May 8, I cannot with good conscience vote for the amendment due to its potential to harm those in need — including unmarried, loving couples, single women, children, and elderly couples — just to name a few.

The good news is that I am not alone. There have been many Christians and other people of faith that are taking a stand against the amendment. There has been a statement of NC clergy and faith leaders against the constitutional amendment where they state, ‘As people of faith, clergy and leaders in our faith traditions, we are mandated by God to demonstrate and protect love in all its forms and to stand for justice for all of creation.’ (www.equalitync.org)

In Psalm 140:12, it states, ‘I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy’. It is with these words that I know this upcoming Sunday morning, despite the messages taught from some church pulpits, I will remain steadfast in God’s faithfulness, up until the vote on May 8. Just as I used to leave my childhood church with a renewed spirit full of hope — I can still hear the church bells ringing, and even still, remain hopeful for the weeks to come. I encourage you to follow your inner voice — and vote against on May 8.

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Lydia Kinton