Raleigh North Carolina Votes To Issue Public Proclamation Against Proposed Constitutional Amendment Prohibiting Same Sex Marriages And Civil Unions, Anti-Gay Troy Michigan Mayor Urged To Quit, Springfield Oregon City Council Unanimously Approves Ordinance Adding Sexual Orientation To Classes Protected From Discrimination

City leaders in Raleigh, North Carolina are taking a stand against a proposed gay marriage ban in North Carolina. WTVD reports that the Raleigh City Council voted six to two Tuesday afternoon to issue a public pronouncement against the constitutional amendment that would bar same-sex marriages and civil unions in North Carolina. The city's Human Relations Commission argued the amendment is discriminatory and the Democrats, who control the city council, agreed. "It shows that Raleigh is a progressive city and that it wants to enhance its citizenry, protect its citizenry and include everybody," said Chris Moutos with the Human Relations Commission. The city council vote is largely symbolic. North Carolina voters have the final say on approving the gay marriage ban. The issue is on the ballot in May.

A group that varied in size from 20 to 40 stood in front of Troy City Hall on Monday, amid wind and rain that changed to snow flurries, to protest new Troy Mayor Janice Daniels' use of the homosexual slur "queers" on her Facebook page. The Detroit Free Press reports that the protest on Big Beaver Road, organized by Troy High School students, drew students, parents and some adults from outside the city, who called for Daniels' resignation, hours before she was to preside at her third City Council meeting since being elected November 8. "Even though we were too young to vote her in, we don't think we're too young to take her out of her office, or at least make her aware of the problem," said Skye Curtis, 17, a senior at Troy High School and cofounder of the school's 2-month-old Gay-Straight Alliance student group. Daniels' Facebook posting, dated June 25, told her friends: "I think I am going to throw away my I Love New York carrying bag now that queers can get married there." Her post came a day after New York state legislators voted to allow gay marriage in the state. Daniels was excoriated during the weekend on the Internet for not only making the statement but, in effect, defending it Friday when she said, "I still believe that marriage is between one man and one woman." Monday, she said she met with some of the protesters and apologized. "I explained to them that this is a perfect opportunity for all of us to learn how important it is to choose our words carefully. I'm human, I made a mistake, but I feel I did the right thing -- I admitted my mistake, I apologized," she said. Daniels' apology was accepted until she said that queer "is just a word," said Zach Kilgore, 17, also a senior at Troy High School. "That shows she just does not understand. We had a pretty calm conversation and then it erupted into people screaming at her and calling her 'bully,’” said Kilgore, who said he organized the protest. "We need to show the region -- and now the country, because this is national news -- that we aren't this bigoted community," Kilgore said. Although the protesters stood outside, inside Troy City Hall were three adults with a sign about what they said was the inviolability of heterosexual marriage. "It's the law of God and the law of the land," said the sign held by Mary Mills, 69, of Clarkston. "The mayor happens to be a friend of mine. We're both in the tea party," Mills said. A few miles west, at the Somerset Collection, Troy-based Michigan Faith & Freedom Coalition had launched an effort to persuade people to shop in Troy for the holidays. The effort was in response to an Internet-spread call to boycott Somerset as an additional protest of Daniels' statements. Glenn Clark, president of the coalition that touts traditional values, says he formally announced the campaign, "Home for the Holidays: Shop Troy," on Monday as a pre-emptive move against "a gross overreaction by radical groups" and "bomb throwers." He added, "It is silliness, foolishness and rash judgment for people to call for any boycott of Troy. There's no reason to use an unfortunate comment that has been recalled, as a weapon in a political game that has dire economic consequences for not only the city, but our region. We're calling on people of faith and people of character to rise above this silly call for an economic boycott … choose Troy, shop Troy." The anger towards Daniels continued Monday night at a packed Troy City Council meeting where about 80 people signed up to speak. Cynthia Wilshire, a 55-year resident of the city, looked at Daniels from the public-comment podium and said, "Shame on you. You may have been elected and feel you're queen of the hill... You're not."

The Springfield, Oregon City Council gave quick and unanimous approval Monday to an ordinance that protects gays and lesbians against discrimination. The ordinance amends Springfield’s charter by adding “sexual orientation” to a list of classes for which an individual cannot be treated with prejudice. Under the charter, individuals also may not be discriminated against based on their “race, color, religion, sex, age, marital status, disability or national origin.” The amendment was essentially a “housekeeping matter,” said Joe Leahy, Springfield’s city attorney, as the clause was mistakenly left out of the discrimination section when Springfield redrafted its charter in 2001, according to The Register-Guard. The ordinance will not bring about any practical change as discrimination against gays and lesbians is already prohibited at the state level, Leahy noted. Under the Oregon Equality Act of 2007, discrimination against homosexuals is illegal in areas of employment, housing, public accommodations, public education, foster parenting and jury service. The addition marks the first time Springfield has explicitly taken a position against such discrimination since the city drew national attention in 1992 for becoming the first in America to add anti-gay language to its code. That year, 55-percent of Springfield voters approved a ballot measure that barred the city from taking any step that specifically protected homosexuals from discrimination, and stated that the city could not “promote, encourage or facilitate” homosexuality, pedophilia, sadism or masochism. “The measure has put Springfield on the map nationally and internationally as the city that voted to institutionalize discrimination against homosexuals,” a Register-Guard editorial asserted on June 19, 1992. The ballot measure was championed by the now-defunct Oregon Citizens Alliance, an organization led by activist Lon Mabon that fought against gay rights throughout the state in the 1990s. The alliance was unsuccessful in its 1992 campaign to place anti-gay language in the state constitution, but voters in 25 other Oregon cities and counties approved the addition of such terminology to their charters by May 1994. Junction City, Creswell, Cottage Grove, Oakridge and Veneta were the other Lane County cities to do so. All the charter changes were later invalidated by the Oregon Legislature and by the courts — though in Springfield’s case the anti-gay language remained in the charter, unenforced, until the 2001 redraft. Springfield Mayor Christine Lundberg, who became a city councillor in 1999, said after the meeting that the charter addition was an important step toward ridding the city of some of the “stigma” it had earned through the 1992 vote. “Over the last year or so, we’ve taken on diversity in a meaningful way, and this (addition) just fits with that,” she said. Lundberg said the memory of the 1992 vote had lived on for many years, particularly in the minds of people outside the community. “We’ve carried it for a while,” she said. “But now, as a council, we’ve put our tolerance in writing.”