Yesterday’s post on Greensboro City Councilmember Trudy Wade was harsh — I admit it. But, certainly it wasn’t any harsher than the painfully bigoted position Wade took heading into last night’s debate on a resolution to oppose the state’s anti-LGBT, anti-family constitutional amendment.
The resolution passed 7-1, with Wade the lone dissenter.
Wade had wanted to postpone last night’s debate on the resolution. She insisted that the city should hold public hearings on the matter, despite the fact that her Republican colleagues in the North Carolina House and Senate failed to just that, rushing the proposed amendment through the committee process in the House and attempting to conceal its identity in the Senate.
But, nonetheless, it was a public hearing Wade wanted and a public hearing Wade got.
From the looks of the livetweeting last night by @racetotheballot, @nc4equality and others, Wade got more feedback than she’d ever need. So much so, that the Greensboro City Council decided to take a 10-minute recess in the middle of the public comment period.
A few highlights from those opposed to the amendment and in favor of the resolution, who, by far, outweighed the number of speakers standing in favor of discrimination:
And, when it was time for discussion by council itself, I don’t think I could have been any prouder:
Perhaps the most inspiring comments from council came from none other than Greensboro’s Republican mayor, Robbie Perkins, proving that the amendment isn’t a gay-straight or Democratic-Republican issue, but rather one that affects all people:
In Mourning: Trudy Wade comes to the realization that bigotry isn't a winner.
And, while all this was going on, Dear Trudy (in center, photo at right) stayed silent. Her somber mood and her in-mourning-like dress was all quite fitting. If you’re going to stand up for evil, might as well wear its colors.
There were few people who spoke out against the resolution and in favor of the amendment. Of those who did, however, one person stood out of the pack.
Tyler J. McCall, an activist with Neighbors for Equality, tweeted that communications director for Vote For Marriage NC, the referendum committee pushing for the anti-LGBT amendment, shared not-so-accurate facts.
According to Tyler, the NC4Marriage rep said Durham-based Public Policy Polling had found that 70 percent of Greensboro residents were in favor of the amendment. To his credit, Tyler sniffed a rat in that mountain of a woodpile.
He contacted PPP via Twitter: “@pppolls – Speaker at Greensboro City Council tonight said that 70% of #GSO residents support #Amendment1, according to your poll. True?”
PPP’s response was simple enough: “We have not done a poll of Greensboro residents.”
If you’re going to religion and God to push discrimination into the state’s constitution, one might think you’d try to at least be honest with it. Nope. Anti-gay zealots have a tendency to suspend that scriptural prohibition against lying when attacking the gays. Rule numero uno in their “How to Malign the Fags Handbook” — it’s in chapter one, “Distractions and Division 101.”
Tonight, the Greensboro City Council will consider a resolution opposing the impending anti-LGBT constitutional amendment set to go before North Carolina voters on May 8.
Trudy Wade
The resolution (read it here, item 33), supported by Mayor Robbie Perkins and Councilman Zack Matheny, primarily addresses the impact the amendment will have on city government’s ability to offer health and other benefits to the same-sex partners of their LGBT employees. For sure, there’s no soaring rhetoric about full marriage equality. Because after all, as the wise Ed Cone reminds Greensborians, the amendment does more than “define” so-called “traditional marriage.”
Still, Councilmember Trudy Wade says she is opposed. She stands in favor of the constitutional amendment and wants to postpone tonight’s vote in order to conduct public hearings.
But why the public hearings, Mrs. Wade? Isn’t your mind already made up? Via Jeff Martin:
The May 8th election is an important one for the future of our state. The very basis of our legal system — our Judeo-Christian principles — is on the ballot. I hope that each citizen will register to vote and make sure that conservative family values are not compromised in our great state.
Martin says Mrs. Wade has “consign[ed] herself to that shameful pantheon of reprobates otherwise known as dumb conservatives.”
I won’t be as nice…
Let me put this as plainly as I can: Mrs. Wade, you are a bigot. In what just world is it appropriate to support a constitutional measure that forever encases an entire minority of people in second-class citizenship? Would you have supported public votes on any number of this country’s other historic civil rights measures? If your answer is yes, you’re even more of a bigot than you appear. If your answer is no, then you’re just an anti-gay bigot. Either way, you’re a bigot.
Welcome to InterstateQ.com, the commentary and opinion blog of civic journalist and progressive, LGBT activist Matt Comer. Hailing from Winston-Salem, N.C., Matt, 28, now lives in Charlotte, where he works as editor of 
