We the people

As reported by the Guardian, the people of North Carolina have decided to place themselves on the wrong side of history.

A constitutional amendment has been passed by a vote of 61% to 39% defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Unfortunately the amendment goes further than that and will have consequences for all manners of domestic partnerships.

Overall the trend in the states is towards marriage equality but it may a little longer in coming for North Carolinians.

The Guardian's Ana Maria Cox has a great piece on the North Carolina amendment, the overall context and what it means:

There are no pink processionals crowding the streets of Durham, and while my St Paul neighborhood sees a lot of pairs of women pushing one stroller down the street, I have yet to be invited to the big "WE ARE UNDERMINING THE FOUNDATIONS OF YOUR MORALITY" party, which social conservatives seem to imagine taking place just out of sight. The fact is, both of these initiatives are propelled less by the presence of an in-your-face homosexual "agenda" than by the gradual, inevitable, and growing normalization and acceptance of gays and lesbians as complete equals in our society.