North Carolina in 2019:
There are quite a few clergy members at the picnic. Another is the Rev. Jerry Miller, whose son came out as gay four decades ago. At first, it wasn't easy for Miller to reconcile his faith with his son's identity.
"My wife and I basically went in the closet because I was a pastor of a Baptist church at that time. And I prayed that God would change my son someday," Miller says. "God didn't change him; he changed me."
There is a big and largely untold story here about cultural and
political shifts south of the Mason Dixon Line. They don't get much
coverage but I've been noticing items
like this.
RUSSELLVILLE, AR -- Hundreds of people marched down Main Street in
Russellville for the definition of marriage in Arkansas just three days
before the U.S. Supreme Court considers the fundamental question of
whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.
The rallies were on the same street at the same time, but were on
opposite sides of the street because of people's opposing views on
same-sex marriage.
The march started off calm. Nearly 80 people walked on Main Street to
the Pope County Courthouse holding signs that read, "One man + one woman
= marriage and family" and other signs that supported heterosexual
marriage and disagreed with homosexual marriage. The group, which
included members of the Tri County Tea Party, headed its own march with a
separate march trailing behind.
...
All while hundreds of people rallying at the other march chanted "marriage equality" across the street.
...
That was the message speakers at the original rally tried to get out,
but struggled because of the loud chants across the street.
Even though March for Marriage was the first march formally announced,
supporters were outnumbered by the crowd across the street.
Outnumbered is a
bit of an understatement.
Because I've heard conflicting numbers regarding the folks on both sides
of the two rallies in Russellville this weekend, I asked Travis
Simpson, a reporter at the Russellville Courier, who was there on the
scene on Saturday.
He said the crowd supporting marriage equality was the larger of the
two, "no contest." Simpson said he estimated there were perhaps 30
rallying against same-sex marriage, but around 200 on the pro-equality
side.
Nor was that the end it.
On Saturday, a group called Pope County for Equality organized a
rally in Russellville to show support for marriage equality and LGBTQ
civil rights in Arkansas. More than 300 people showed up — quite a
significant turnout for a community of under 30,000. Klay Rutherford, an
organizer of the event and an undergrad at Arkansas Tech University,
sent this report to the Arkansas Times. All pictures are courtesy of
Pope County for Equality's Facebook page.
Residents of Pope County gathered in Russellville at 3 p.m. on Saturday,
May 2 for a march and rally for marriage equality. Over 300 attendees
marched through downtown and congregated at a stage near the historic
Missouri-Pacific train depot.
The event was sponsored by Pope County for Equality, an online
organization that advocates for the equal treatment of all individuals,
regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity.
Speakers included Dr. MarTeze Hammonds, Associate Dean for Diversity and
Inclusion at Arkansas Tech University; Jeannie Fowler Stone, a proud
Christian and an accepting mother of a transgender son; and, James
Bittle, a retired sergeant in the U.S. Army who is gay and recently
married. Hammonds, Stone and Bittle are all residents of Russellville.
Event organizers said, “Our goal is to be an overwhelming presence of
love and acceptance. We aim to lift people up, start discussions, and
show our community that we are more than a stereotype. We simply want to
bring our community closer together in a setting of love and peace.”
An impromptu marriage proposal took place on stage as Russellville
resident Morgan Walker got down on one knee, surprising the crowd and
her new fiancé, Silvia Harper (also of Russellville). The band Sad
Magick provided entertainment.
The rally was held in part as a response to an event the previous
weekend (Saturday, April 25) organized by an Arkansas River Valley Tea
Party group in support of defining marriage as between one man and one
woman. Protests that weekend were organized by pro-equality individuals
not affiliated with Pope County for Equality. While many media outlets
downplayed the presence and role of the protesters at the April 25
event, we estimate that there were at least 250 pro-equality protesters
and no more than 50 participants among the the anti-equality crowd.
Pope County for Equality would like to thank the Russellville Police
Department for their unbiased approach in handling both marches. Despite
the surprising turnout at both events, they occurred without incident
or injury.
In the fairly near future, I'm planning a deep dive into how the culture
and politics of the South are shifting in ways that our standard
metrics tend to miss. For now though, just remember that Russellville is
in the most Republican part of the state.
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