Two events of significance are coming up this week in North Carolina's fight to beat back the discriminatory, job-killing marriage amendment measure that is going to go on the ballot next May.

Here's some jaw-dropping cowardice at work in the North Carolina Senate. At the 11th hour -- of course in the dead media zone of Friday afternoon -- Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (@SenatorBerger, Phil.Berger@ncleg.net, 919-733-5708) and staff are not only are trying to hide the fact that they will bring a marriage amendment bill up for debate on Monday, but they are trying to do it in a stealth fashion that is completely disgusting. Berger and his fellow elected Bigots to Kill NC Business don't want the public to know about or participate in the debate. Laura Leslie @ WRAL:

According to the public notices released today, the Senate Judiciary 1 committee will be meeting Monday on H61, “Speaker/Pro Tem Term Limits” - a proposal to limit the numbers of years House and Senate members can serve as leaders of their chambers.

But a new version of the bill leaked to WRAL Friday night shows the bill the committee will take up Monday has absolutely nothing to do with term limits. The new H61 is an amended version of the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

You can try to look it up at the legislature’s website, but you won’t find it there.

What a day! A nice rally on Halifax Mall in downtown Raleigh against the bills that would enshrine bigotry into the NC Constitution in front of the North Carolina General Assembly turned into kick-ass direct action. First, I'll give you the straight-up press release from GetEqual, and then give you my account - with plenty of video and photos.

This is one of those local stories that has to get out there because it shows the cultural shift of inclusion of LGBTs into daily life is hit and miss not just from state to state, but from city to city.

Take these various local couples and wedding contests or notices in the paper of couples marrying. Including LGBTs is a breakthrough because these are your neighbors, fellow readers of the regional newspaper. Visibility matters and the editors of those newspapers have to make some tough decisions in a difficult economic climate about whether to "rock the boat" for the sake of fairness.

The Greensboro News & Record is "throwing a wedding for one lucky couple in the Piedmont Triad," announced on the N&R's Editor John Robinson's blog page...