American Civil Liberties Union

Our brothers and sisters are blazing a trail for civil equality with the advent of same-sex marriage in California this week. For those of us who don't live in the Golden State or Massachusetts (or other states with civil unions or domestic partnerships) recognition of our committed relationships may seem like a long way off.

Here in North Carolina we have no statewide anti-discrimination laws for LGBTs, no hate crimes protections, not even anti-bullying laws (though the School Violence Prevention Act has a fair chance of passing this time around). The only reference to marriage is the perennial filing of an onerous marriage amendment into the General Assembly.