May 6, 2014
Over 60 CookOUT for Marriage Equality Events Slated for North Carolina
During a 10-day period in May, beginning on the second anniversary of the passage of Amendment One, North Carolina’s 2012 constitutional ban on the freedom to marry (May 8), and ending following the close of oral arguments in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals case of Bostic vs. Schaefer, a case that could help topple Amendment One and marriage equality bans in several southern states (May 18), same-sex couples will be gathering throughout North Carolina at over 60 CookOUT for Marriage Equality events.
Alongside friends, families, and their communities, North Carolina's CookOUT hosts will celebrate their marriages and tens of thousands of other married, same-sex couples that North Carolina refuses to recognize.
Between May 8 and May 18, CookOUT for Marriage Equality events will take place in cities and towns all across the state, in places like Apex, Asheville, Burlington, Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Drewry, Durham, Fayetteville, Ft. Bragg, Greensboro, Greenville, Hendersonville, Hickory, Hurdle Mills, Kernersville, Lenoir, Magnolia, Morganton, Nashville, New Bern, Raleigh, Salisbury, Southport, Valdese, Waynesville, Wilkesboro, Wilmington, and Winston-Salem. A CookOUT for Marriage Equality in honor of Equality NC is even being hosted in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The CookOUT for Marriage Equality campaign also includes supporter-led, public events throughout the state, including:
CookOUT for Marriage Equality at Motorco (Durham)
Thursday, May 8, from 6-8 p.m.
CookOUT for Marriage Equality at UUFR (Raleigh)
Thursday, May 8, from 6-7:15 p.m.
CookOUT for Marriage Equality at the Park (Raleigh)
Saturday, May 10, at 4 p.m.
CookOUT for Marriage Equality (Chapel Hill)
Saturday, May 17, from 12:30-8:30 p.m.
CookOUTs for Marriage Equality are also taking place in Virginia, West Virginia, and South Carolina – states that also fall under the jurisdiction of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and whose married lesbian and gay couples will be affected by the court’s decision.
The CookOUTs in North Carolina over 10 days in May show support for the Fourth Circuit challenge to bans on marriage equality and are a way to show North Carolina that it is time for the state to recognize the marriages of gay and lesbian couples.
“North Carolina’s support for the freedom to marry is growing at an astronomical rate largely due to the visibility and voices of loving, committed same-sex couples living, working and making their homes throughout the state,” said Chris Sgro, executive director of Equality North Carolina, the group charged with organizing North Carolina’s CookOUT for Marriage Equality campaign. “It’s time for our laws to catch up and accurately reflect the prevailing opinion of our country: lesbian and gay North Carolinians deserve the freedom to marry the person they love in the place they call home.”