Have you heard about North Carolina’s Amendment One? It’s a fun little change to the state’s constitution that would make it illegal to acknowledge any kind of union outside of a traditional heterosexual marriage. At first glance, this seems like the usual homophobic attempts of the right to disenfranchise the gays, but in North Carolina, gay marriage is already illegal. What Amendment One does is prevent any two people, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation, from receiving any state-provided rights unless they’re one man and one woman, and it puts this rule into their constitution. Bachelor/bachelorette parties, the wasting of a shit ton of money on a party for family members you don’t like, and unfortunate garments for the wedding parties required.
The Amendment is an unnecessary and obtrusive move by the state’s republicans that many are viewing simply as a way to stir up partisan furor in an election year. The uninformed hear that if they don’t pass Amendment One, they’re well on their way to hell in a handbasket, and next thing you know, there are waiting lines at the local library come election day.
So what is North Carolina’s most famous record label, Merge, doing to campaign against this idiocy? They’re holding a benefit concert in collaboration with the Protect All Families organization featuring many a Merge luminary on May 6! For a meager $80 donation, you get a limited edition silk-screened poster designed by Matthew Kilmas and access to the concert with David Cross (and his oddly-matched fiancee Amber Tamblyn), Tig Nataro, Bob Mould, Stuart McLamb, and Superchunk, performing an acoustic set as a duo. And you’ll be supporting a good cause. So if you’re going to be in the triangle area on May 6, do your part and see some quality comedy and music while you’re at it.
• Protect All Families: http://www.protectncfamilies.org
• Merge: http://www.mergerecords.com
• Matthew Kilmas: http://mattklimas.com