Amendment One draws attention from across the US

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Tags:

local/state, alina machado

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Two days after primary election day, the same sex marriage debate continues here in North Carolina and across the country

A prayer service will be held Thursday evening by those who opposed Amendment One. The services comes as one Raleigh pastor weighed in on the president's remarks and the negative talk about North Carolina.

"I really wish he would have been kind and let the state have one day to celebrate," said Rev. Patrick Wooden, of the Upper Room Church. "But I think he did it because our margin of victory was so strong."

Wooden said the 61 to 39 margin by which voters passed Amendment One has sent a powerful message.

"We worked hard because we believe that it was necessary to protect marriage," said Wooden

Since that vote, talk about North Carolina has been all over the internet. N.C. State senior Jenn Halweil started an online petition looking to repeal amendment one. Tens of thousands have already signed it.

"I think we're at a time in history when equality needs to be discussed more and what that means for the future, and so my hope is that this will spark more of that dialogue in a healthy way," said Halweil.

Also joining in on the dialogue are Ellen DeGeneres and Zack Galifianakos. They are two celebrities who took to Twitter to express their disappointment with Tuesday's vote. To them, Wooden has strong words.

"I say to Ellen, Zack and the rest of them, 'Get out of North Carolina business.' The people of North Carolina went through a legal process and we voted. We didn't shoot at anybody. We didn't stab anybody. There was no bomb going off. People went to the ballot box and voted their conviction."

It's a conviction that Wooden is confident won't be shaken or changed.

"We didn't do anything illegal. We didn't break any laws," he said. "We went to the polls, people voted and that's the process. Time will pass and anger will abate and people will go back to living their lives."

There have also been comments from people all over the country, and the world, posted online at the Visit North Carolina's Facebook page. Some even said they will be changing vacation plans or avoiding the state altogether.

ABC11 reached out to the Department of Commerce to get their take on this but never heard back.</p