Linda Johnson

Dear Democratic Legislators in the NC General Assembly:

I am writing you today in response to a story I read in the Charlotte Observer. Thank you for taking time to hear my concerns.

Rep. Linda Johnson, a Kannapolis Republican, plans to force a vote Tuesday on a proposal to ban same-sex marriage in the N.C. Constitution. Johnson and Rep. Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, are sponsors of the state Marriage Protection Amendment introduced earlier this year.

This sad story has been written about extensively, and you've probably already been contacted by supporters of Equality NC and others who have been mobilized by one of our state's leading progressive bloggers. As a straight, middle-class white business guy, I want to add my words of advice as well:

Don't. You. Dare.

If you've bothered to read the Constitution of the State of North Carolina, which you are sworn to uphold, you will find no section in that document that is written to restrict the rights and liberties of We the People. On the contrary, the preamble is a proud and honorable celebration of freedom. Among its 36 sections, I call your attention to these:

Section 1. The equality and rights of persons.

We hold it to be self-evident that all persons are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, the enjoyment of the fruits of their own labor, and the pursuit of happiness.