Thanks to all of the close to 100 folks who showed up to our rally, began our march or joined our march as we walked through Uptown on Friday evening.

Our message was simple: We want equality, and we want it now!

We collected 185 signatures — yes, you heard right, 185 signatures in only a couple hours — for our simple petition to the Charlotte City Council: Please support the equal marriage resolution. The resolution will be presented at the City Council’s Citizens’ Forum meeting on Monday, June 1. Read the whole resolution here. Click here to download a petition and help us gather signatures. Bring the petition with you on Monday, meet us in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center lobby at 7 p.m., and wear something red to show your support as we attend the meeting as citizens and constituents.

Thanks to Creative Loafing‘s Cheris Hodges for the shout out on the CL blog, the CLog, on Friday morning, and to Fox Charlotte’s for showing up to cover the event on Friday evening.

Note: A correction to our past notices and press releases… the resolution has not yet been passed by the City Council of Durham. They are still considering it. Chapel Hill and Carrboro have passed the resolution, though, and Charlotte could be next!

On Monday, June 1, Josh Weaver will present a resolution in support of marriage equality to the Charlotte City Council. CRANE will be in attendance to support the resolution. Thursday-Monday, we are asking people to download this petition and get your friends, family and colleagues to sign it. Bring it with you to the Citizens’ Forum on Monday. Meet us in the lobby of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center and we’ll all attend the meeting together.

More on our events: www.rainbowaction.org/events/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=111296235790

CRANE is organizing a non-violent protest rally and march on Friday, May 29. Join us in Marshall Park for speakers about Marriage Equality and join us as we march through Uptown to the Government Center.

On Monday, join us at the Charlotte City Council Citizens’ Forum, as a resolution in support of Marriage Equality is presented.

Visit our events page for more.

Join our announcements email list here.

The following resolution will be presented Monday at the Charlotte City Council Citizens’ Forum:

A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF CIVIL MARRIAGE FOR SAME-SEX COUPLES

WHEREAS, The Election Day victories by anti-gay activists in California, Florida, Arizona and Arkansas were a painful reminder that the gay rights movement still faces many challenges; and

WHEREAS, discriminatory marriage laws in the United States deprive same-sex couples of over 1000 federal rights and benefits automatically bestowed by civil marriage including, among others, health care coverage, tax benefits, divorce, domestic violence protections, privileges under immigration and naturalization law, inheritance rights, survivor benefits and child custody; and

WHEREAS, the denial of such benefits has been demonstrated to have significant psychological and social impact on the physical, social, and economic well-being of gay and lesbian couples and their families; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Supreme Court recognizes marriage as one of the “‘basic civil rights of man’ fundamental to our very existence and survival” and “one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men”; and

WHEREAS, heterosexual relationships have a legal framework for their existence through civil marriage, which provides a stabilizing force. In the United States, with the notable exceptions of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine and Vermont same-sex couples are currently denied the important legal benefits, rights and responsibilities of civil marriage. Same-sex couples therefore experience several kinds of state sanctioned discrimination that can adversely affect the stability of their relationships and their mental health; and’

WHEREAS, the love that brings and binds two people of the same, or opposite sex, together transcends gender; and

WHEREAS, as Americans, we must remember a foundational principle of our form of government: all are created equal. Consistent with the pursuit of liberty and justice for all, same-sex couples should have full and equal access to the rights and responsibilities bestowed by civil marriage; and

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that civil marriage for same-sex couples must include all the benefits commonly bestowed upon opposite-sex couples, including, among other rights, healthcare coverage and related decision-making, privileges under immigration and naturalization law, survivor benefits, inheritance rights, and child custody.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Charlotte, North Carolina City Council, endorse and support the rights of same-sex couples to share fully and equally in the rights, responsibilities and commitments of civil marriage.

CRANE’s February events on Valentine’s Day and challenging the “ex-gay” ministries of Focus on the Family and Exodus International were a resounding success!

Dozens of community members — mostly youth — turned out to speak to hundreds of passers-by in Uptown Charlotte on Feb. 14. Fifty or more people attended Wayne Besen’s presentation “Pray Away the Gay” on Thursday, Feb. 19 at the Community Center. A Feb. 20 press conference led to headlines that evening on the local TV news stations. Fifty to sixty community members turned out to protest the Love Won Out conference on Saturday.

CRANE’s work in the community and with the media spawned wonderful discussion on issues of LGBT equality, faith and religion.

CRANE hopes this isn’t the end. Our planning group will be meeting to put a future plan in place. We’re all looking forward to our next great venture. We hope you’ll join us.

On Thursday, Feb. 19, a packed house at the Lesbian & Gay Community Center of Charlotte listened to author and activist Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, and learned of the lies and myths of the “ex-gay” industry.

On Saturday, Focus on the Family and Exodus International will present its “ex-gay” conference Love Won Out at Central Church of God. Besen told community members Thursday evening about the track record of “ex-gay” and reparative therapies supported by Exodus and Love Won Out and the laundry list of former “ex-gay” leaders exposed for the lies, including John Paulk, a Love Won Out poster boy caught drinking and hitting on gay men at a bar in Washington, D.C.

Besen also discussed the psychological harm such therapies and ministries cause, including increased anxiety, depression, suicide and suicidal ideation. He said medial groups like the American Psychological Association have rebuked these ministries for their harmful practices.

On Friday, Feb. 20, 11:30 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte, 234 N. Sharon Amity Road, Truth Wins Out, CRANE and other community and national groups will hold a press conference unveiling a new publication, “Ex-Gay and the Law.” The joint Truth Wins Out and Lambda Legal publication offers legal resources for victims of unscrupulous “ex-gay” ministries. Click here for details on the press conference, including a speakers list and bios.

Check out our events page for information on the Saturday protest of Love Won Out.

On the evening of Saturday, Feb. 14, approximately two dozen LGBTQI community members and straight allies gathered at Trade & Tryon Streets to speak to passers-by about equality and the rights of all people to love and to be loved regardless of sexual orientation.

Despite the chill in the air and strong wind, community members stopped briefly to speak with with CRANE supporters about the importance of equality for all people. Scores of people stopped to sign their name and support for equality on Valentine’s Day Hearts displayed at the square that evening.

Media organizations covering the event included FOX Charlotte, NBC News Channel 36 (WCNC) and The Charlotte Observer‘s Tonya Jameson.

CRANE is anticipating its next series of events, on Thursday, Feb. 19 through Saturday, Feb. 21. Click here for a full listing of events.

Just two weeks prior to the Focus on the Family and Exodus International “ex-gay” conference Love Won Out on Feb. 21, the anti-gay American Family Association bought time on WBTV The CW station in Charlotte on Saturday, Feb. 7 for their one-hour special “Speechless: Silencing the Christians.”

The special focused primarily on attacks against the equality of LGBTQI people, including “testimony” from so-called “ex-gays” and insidious propaganda about a so-called “gay agenda” pushing “homosexual lifestyles.” If you missed the special, you can watch it at www.silencingchristians.com. The one-hour special previews the type of harmful, anti-gay lies and myths that will be perpetuated by Focus on the Family and Exodus International at their conference on Feb. 21 at Central Church of God.

CRANE has teamed up with several local and national organizations to counter the lies, myths and psychologically and spiritually damaging practices of Exodus International. Our week-long series of events can be viewed on our events page.

Update: It was originally reported that the special appeared on WBTV. It appeared in The CW. We apologize for any misunderstanding or inconvenience.

The Charlotte Rainbow Action Network for Equality (CRANE) is a grassroots coalition of activists and community members working toward civil and social equality for the Charlotte’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community.

We are a gathering and network of community leaders, organizations and members from across the greater Charlotte-Mecklenburg region.

We meet occasionally to plan events and programs to raise awareness on LGBTQ issues and work to positively and non-violently respond to events or organizations threatening LGBTQ safety or equality.

Our new website will be a central organizing hub connecting you to the organizing we’re doing through social networking websites like Facebook and MySpace. Our website will also have community resources, an information library with facts and figures supporting our fight for equality, event listings and news and press releases.