Exclusive: Democracy for America’s Jim Dean on why North Carolinians should vote against Amendment O

[ellisonz]

By: Pam Spaulding Wednesday April 25, 2012 3:00 pm

It’s nice to have so many allies from around the country coming out in support of the effort to defeat Amendment One. One such partner is Democracy for America (DFA), a nationwide grassroots PAC with one million members strong.

“Equality is not a privilege, it is a right,” said Jim Dean (@TheJimDean), Chair of DFA. “We cannot ask our gay and lesbian community members and their families to accept anything less than true equality – Amendment One is an attack on all families regardless of their make-up and should be voted down on May 8th.”

“It is time that bigotry take a backseat to true equality,” said Arshad Hasan, Executive Director of DFA. “We are a country whose greatest strength is our ability to cherish all people, regardless of race, religion or sexual orientation. Amendment One moves our country – and North Carolina in the wrong direction.”

I asked Jim Dean to expand on DFA’s interest in what is happening North Carolina and why people outside of NC should get involved; here’s what he had to say.

Full Interview at Link: Fire Dog Lake Blog

[freshwest]

1. Human rights shouldn't be on initiatives. They are in the Constitution already, IMO.

The Constitution as a 'living document' has room for amendments, and interpretation. It does not specify, for example, a national language and doesn't talk about marriage or sexual orientation.

The ERA was needed and failed, because of the same dumbassery that created the Jim Crow laws and other obstacles to human freedom. If one lived according to the law of love, paper is not needed. IMHO.

I am hoping that mankind as a whole gets all of these hateful things out of their mind that our generation is fighting for, and that the next generation no longer needs to be ordered to treat each other with honor and respect.