You be the judge. Was Mayor Pat McCrory unnecessarily curt, or avoiding a politically sticky situation or just being time-efficient after a long meeting Monday night, when a delegation from the gay/lesbian alliance appeared before Charlotte City Council?
Here's the background: The council's 5 p.m. dinner meeting was to be followed by a Citizens Forum, a regular event where the council hears from the public but doesn't take action or engage in much discussion, though upon occasion a council member will ask questions or make comments. Only one speaker had signed up, a man from Durham.
He turned out to be Joshua Lee Weaver, accompanied by a dozen or so local folks from Charlotte's gay and lesbian community. He sought the council's approval of "A Resolution in Support of Civil Marriage for Same-Sex Couples." (He must have had Charlotte confused with Chapel Hill or something.) With his allotted 4 minutes at the microphone, he asked for their support and read the resolution.
When Weaver finished, Mayor McCrory said quickly: "Thank you very much. This meeting is adjourned." And council members began packing up. Weaver said something like, "Well, I was hoping for some feedback." McCrory said he appreciated him being here, but didn't comment on the substance of the proposal.
Afterward, Weaver said two municipalities had passed the resolution already – Chapel Hill and Carrboro – and Durham was considering it. He said other cities would be asked to pass it but wasn't sure which he'd approach next.
Observer reporter Julia Oliver asked McCrory after the meeting if he'd put the resolution on the agenda and McCrory said he wouldn't.
To be fair, McCrory and several council members afterward did go speak to Weaver afterward, and to some in the group accompanying him. I noticed Susan Burgess and Anthony Foxx, and there may have been others. Council member Andy Dulin sent a letter to the Observer today saying he doesn't support civil unions – "One man, one woman is what I believe" – and noting that none of the seven Democrats at the table said a word to Weaver. He's right. Of course, the mayor closed the meeting before anyone had time to say a peep.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
This meeting is adjourned
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60 comments:
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They should have known better than to ask for a resolution like that in Charlotte with McCrory there. It doesn't mean anything anyway, and they are wasting their time. Everyone knows the two towns this resolution has already passed in are liberal hotbeds, of which Charlotte is not. Not going to happen.
They should have went to Asheville next, not Charlotte.
The mayor does EXACTLY the same thing to EVERYONE who makes their speech. It's incredibly dishonest of you to claim that McCrory singled out one person for this treatment. And it's not even someone who lives in Charlotte.
Mountain, meet mole hill.
god forbid Charlotte be a leader and support equal rights for eveyone when the shadow of racism still hangs on the city.
The United States Constitution - the highest law in the land - doesn't care what you "believe", Councilman Dulin. Much of the Constitution is about individual rights, not about individual beliefs.
You are free, Andy, thanks to the Constitution, to choose not to ordain gay ministers in your own church, to not allow your clergy to marry gay couples. You don't even have to associate with gay people, period. In fact, no one is forcing you to do so, or proposing thatyou be required to do so. But at the same time, those "of religion" sure seemed fixated on denying basic human rights to anyone who doesn't share their belief system. Whose the real culprit?
Strange that we have a Constitution intended to provide a win-win solution for both positions on this topic, but "the will of the majority" still trumps minority rights. Go figure.
Did a professional journalist use the word "diss"? You be the judge.
McCroy has demonstrated on numerous occations the he plans to hate gay people as much as Sue Myrick because he wants her job. He is sticking to the old GOP model of hating gay people to appeal to the religious right.
A little unfair to the mayor. Sounds like a slow news day and you are trying to make up a story. Move on, nothing happened. The mayor does that often, he has done it to me and I am not gay...it was a zoning issue. Not a big deal when it happens. That is just life, not gay or straight, just live. Move on reporter there is
maybe with the City facing significant budget challenges, rising unemployment rates and a worsening housing problem the Mayor felt he had more important things to work on.
McCrory is still an aspiring politician and he can't be seen as too accommodating to gay people. He'd never make it through a Republican primary.
E. Peacock is younger, less ossified and more gay-friendly.
And there are national Republicans who support marriage equality-Cheeey, STeve Schmidtand Ted Olson.
Fun to watch.
"He turned out to be Joshua Lee Weaver, accompanied by a dozen or so local folks from Charlotte's gay and lesbian community. He sought the council's approval of "A Resolution in Support of Civil Marriage for Same-Sex Couples." (He must have had Charlotte confused with Chapel Hill or something.) "
HA!
Steve Schmidt, Cheney and Ted Olson.
Oh, Andy Dulin. I am gay and I live in your city council district. I hope you don't assume that everyone here in District 6 thinks like you do.
The mayor should treat everyone with respect including gay people. McCrory sounds like a simply horrible person.
You people are hilarious. Hating on someone for their own beliefs. And you are the ones who preach tolerance when in fact you're only tolerant of those with your own beliefs. Try this on for size: no one is against gays, they are against gay marriage. You are free to sleep with whoever you want, but marriage is not a constitutional right. Sorry.
They should have went to Asheville next, not Charlotte.I disagree.
This event forced McCrory to take a position, even if he did the politically-prudent thing and closed the meeting without discussion.
This article only exists, this discussion only exists, because they had the courage to confront politicians in public with real questions. It might not have made a different in the law, but it keeps the issue alive and at the front of our minds. That will lead to change, sooner or later.
The Council gave the speaker his allotted time and thanked him. I've been to a number of council meetings and this guy was treated exactly like dozens of other speakers---no council member, including the mayor, is under any obligation (moral or otherwise) to express a position on any of these citizens' forum statements. This was not a matter of official city business.
Charlotte is the largest city in the state (actually both North and South Carolina) yet it is so far behind other places in certain aspects. I don't get it...
McCrory has done nothing wrong, this is how it is done at each meeting. Leave it to the liberals and gays to draw something completely out of proportion. You want equality? Stop making a mountain out of a mole hill and pursue it respectfully.
Are we sure it wasn't Perez Hilton that was speaking?
I don't blame McCory. Marriage is between a man and a woman. Simple! People kill me trying to change things that God did when he started this world. Only God has the power to change that not man.
I think the fact that he is not a resident of Charlotte is reason enough not to consider his resolution. If he was a resident here, then yes, he should be heard and feedback given.
"I don't blame McCory. Marriage is between a man and a woman. Simple! People kill me trying to change things that God did when he started this world. Only God has the power to change that not man."
People like you kill me. Everyone doesn't believe in GOD. There is no proof that GOD exists. Stop speaking for GOD. When GOD comes down from the clouds and says from his own mouth what marriage is then we will all have an answer. Until then, it is just another thing humans have made up and it's another way for humans to take religion and GOD and use it as a scare tactic against other people.
First Charlotte and Mecklenburg Co need to extend benefits to domestic partners. A number of NC governments offer domestic partner benefits for same-sex couples, including the cities of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Durham and Greensboro, as well as Durham and Orange counties.
Folks like Dulin and "icky" Bill James and their "dissing" of the gay community keep Charlotte from attracting qualified professionals to government service.
"Leave it to the liberals and gays to draw something completely out of proportion. You want equality? Stop making a mountain out of a mole hill and pursue it respectfully."
What allegation was there that this was anything but respectful? I thought the point was that perhaps the mayor was the one showing disrespect.
You sound like one of those old-timey white southerners that said "n!@#$% should know their place."
You make me sick. Fortunately your kind are gradually vanishing.
Charlotte isn't ready to openly embrace diversity of any source nor will it every truly be.
Who cares? They are a relatively small and insignificant minority with perverted views which have little impact on the mainstream...
How's this for a compromise: When heterosexuals agree to stop getting divorced in order to protect the sanctity of marriage, homosexuals will agree to stop trying to pursue the right to get married.
ANONYMOUS: "How's this for a compromise: When heterosexuals agree to stop getting divorced in order to protect the sanctity of marriage, homosexuals will agree to stop trying to pursue the right to get married." HERE, HERE! Marriage is for better or worse, until death splits them apart! Funny how heteros use the double standard against homosexuals, and they can't even take care of their own business! Take the splinter out of your eyes first!
"They are a relatively small and insignificant minority with perverted views which have little impact on the mainstream..."
Then why did you respond?
The gays have their toes stepped on and of course it's front page news. Let's all meet at the square and have a group cry out. We'll show that mean mayor.
Who do I write to if I want to marry my horse?
"...a regular event where the council hears from the public but doesn't take action or engage in much discussion, though upon occasion a council member will ask questions or make comments."
So comments are optional and occasional, and the Mayor (and council) passed on what seemed like a soundbite ambush.
Ambush seems the appropriate description considering the prominence given to a non-exchange by Charlotte's Naked City.
Maybe the Mayor holds the same position about Gay marriage as does our Democratic president (who opposes it). Or maybe he holds the position of our former Republican vice president (who is in favor).
Yes, politics can make for strange bedfellows. Personally I think a mayor's time is better spent on crime and potholes and not on contentious and irrelevant symbolic issues.
Irrelevant because a better forum would have been at the state level. But then again, you wouldn't have had the opportunity to embarass a Republican, would you?
So this just seems like another clumsy hatchet job from another predictably one-winged paper. In the current competitive environment I might suggest you focus on providing content readers might want to read, or positions that are sincerely, not cynically, held.
Anon 5:27 - In response to your criticism about my earlier post, I wasn't saying that in the slightest. What irritates me to no end is how everything is taken out of proportion by the media (which, this is the typical drivel that is written by Mary Newsom, so it doesn't surprise me) and, in the situation we're speaking of here, by the gay community. In the three years I've lived in Charlotte, this is how all of their regular meetings have ended. But, God forbid, because a gay person was the first (and last) person to speak that evening, McCrory did him a disservice by not probing the issue further. The meeting would have closed the same way if you or I would have spoken. Why should it be any different for this individual?
I am not a southerner, am a registered democrat, and am a strong proponent of equality for homosexuals, but it's behavior like this that gives them a bad name.
I agree with President Obama, I am against gay marriage.
And secondly, this (and other recent) post is so openly baiting people into a comment war that I'm wondering if Mary Newsome is getting paid by the # of comments per post.
Wouldn't surprise me, since I wouldn't pay her a penny for her hideous writing.
This "man" is widely and long known as being homophobic, wildly so, and has welcomed lovingly to the chambers the hate mongers, from concord. A likely candidate for the next airport restroom scandal if you ask me. That seems to be the pattern with this type of obsessive stance.
Why is it that anytime there is anything involving someone that has a homosexual attraction that it has to be front page news on the Observer website? Any regular event that happens to heterosexuals is non-news. But if the same event happens to some someone that is gay, the Observer always assumes it is due to some sort of discrimination and thus it deserves a headline. The Observer needs to start reporting the news and stop making up the news.
7:42, because 2% of our population is "gay" yet they want to make this out to be a national issue. Further proof liberals are out of the main stream and are all about deflection and group warfare. Sincerely - Jerry Springer and Al Franken, Airhead America.
When two men having sex with each other produce a reproductive child birth, that's when I will support gay marriage. Live together, have sex together, but don't expect everybody to treat it as acceptable behavior. No one is hating on gays, just opposing your campaign to make a sham out of marriage. Get the thesaurus, surely there exist thousands of other more accurate descriptions and please stay away from implying that this is some assault on your Civil Rights. It's quite the contrary, it's an assault on mine.
The government has no place in deciding who is a family, or who can marry. There is no legal reason to deny marriage, and any other reason is unconstitutional - the courthouse issues the legal contract known as marriage, not the church.
At the time President Obama was born, it would have been illegal for his parents to have been wed in 16 of the states.
In 1967 bigots said “Protect the sanctity of marriage: No interracial marriage.” In 2009 bigots of the same ilk say “Protect the sanctity of marriage: No gay marriage.”
You make a mockery out of the Civil Rights struggle by your comparison.
My wife's got a couple cousins, back in China, that are smoking hot, not married and not getting any younger.
Why can I marry them too?
No, the mayor wasn't being curt and dismissive. He was just being Pat.
This has to do with "growth, neighborhoods, [and] urban design"... how?
"Anonymous said...
The government has no place in deciding who is a family, or who can marry."
Incest? Age of consent? So on. Care to rephrase that?
There is no right to government recognition of marriage. Rights by definition exist independent of government. The term you're looking for is "sanction."
the comments on this are ridiculous. and why is this even news? where is the "news worthy" contents? Mary Newsom, more like Mary "Nuisance", knows what she is up to writing this nonsensical article. it is nothing more then elementary yellow journalism fit for a middle school student body newsletter.
I saw one other person who had the same problem I did with this article."dis" is not a word.
"AS AN OBSERVER ASSOCIATE EDITOR, MARY NEWSOM HAS BEEN COVERING GROWTH, NEIGHBORHOODS, URBAN DESIGN AND RELATED TOPICS SINCE 1995."
How is this related to growth, neighborhoods and urban design?
Mary, I crack up every time you post your liberal trash. Keep up the good work. You are very entertaining!
Once back on topic I can't wait to see what you want my money to fund. You DO NOT speak for the masses. You just work for a liberal rag that harvests thoughts like yours while dispelling others. Basically, you are just a very simple egotistical, simple minded, mean person that can't accept how others choose to live and work. You still crack me up. Thanks, and keep the humor coming!
Who cares...Civil Unions or Gay Marriages or whatever you choose to call them have no place in our society.
Thank God for Mayor McCrory. He's kept this town from becoming a God-Forsaking liberal hotbed like other towns in our State.
God made Adam and Eve...not Adam & Steve...
Anonymous at 05:34 pm said: "Who cares? They [homosexuals]are a relatively small and insignificant minority with perverted views which have little impact on the mainstream..."
So are Jews and Muslims, when one applies your "The Majority Rules" dogma to religion. So should we revert to persecuting them?
I hope that all of you ignoramuses who prefer to stifle the rights of others have some sort of epiphany before July 4. Otherwise, please don't soil our nation's flag by waving it in the faces of those you would persecute.
Worth pondering:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights_and_responsibilities_of_marriages_in_the_United_States
How is this related to urban growth? Well, just google "Creative Class."
And there is not enough political will on City Council for this issue, as long as the party with majority seats divided by race continues to fail to promote equality together.
TAXATION IS THEFT!!!!
Last
Well this is an opinion blog- so we are getting Mary's opinion. If you don't like it then do not read it. Although I do not agree with alot of what she reports, it is always good to be exposed to opinions other than your own. At least thats my opinion.
judging by some of these comments...."Leave it to the liberals and gays to draw something completely out of proportion. You want equality? Stop making a mountain out of a mole hill and pursue it respectfully."......Who cares? They are a relatively small and insignificant minority with perverted views which have little impact on the mainstream.......
those are just a couple of the shallow bits of ignorance that I stumbled upon today when reading this blog. It amazes me there are still people like this walking next to me on the street.
Let me say this....I bet all of you small minded individuals that share the views of the folks that posted the quoted comments above....would #1 Not mind if a lesbian or gay doctor saved your life (hmm that was a good one huh, lol) #2 Not mind if a prominent gay owned business hired you and paid you an outrageous salary (got you thinking yet....oops I assumed you could do that) #3....well there is really no need for me to continue I think i've made my point. ;-)
Get over it, we are here and we are here to stay and this i promise you my friends....WE WILL HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE MARRIED IN YOUR LIFETIME!! Thanks for listening.
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