This mailing list is mainly used to help mobilize the community and keep you informed of events, news, and volunteer opportunities.
Business leaders from all across the state have spoken out against Amendment One. It not only harms North Carolina’s children and families, it’s bad for business.
Click here to download our business one-pager against the Amendment. Learn the harms.
If you're a business owner and you want to get involved, please go to this page to take the pledge against Amendment One. You may also view the current list of committed business leaders here.
Martin Eakes of Self-Help eloquently lays out the case against Amendment One in this video from last fall:
Cathy Bessant Speaks Out Against Amendment One:
Margot Lester, Business Owner/Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, speaks against the harmful amendment:
"You're sending a message to the world about what kind of community this is; that we're not inclusive….This is the 21st century. We're competing with people around the world. We've got to be inclusive and open."
- Jim Rogers, Duke Energy CEO
"This amendment has an economic impact. As a business owner, it impacts my ability to attract the talented, highly educated, open minded people that Lulu needs. It further impacts my ability to offer competitive health benefits to my employees and their families.
This is not about supporting or opposing gay marriage, it’s about taking the conversation off the table completely. It’s about North Carolina, via its constitution, sending a message that everyone in the state isn’t even willing to have the conversation."
- Bob Young, Founder, Red Hat
“Both my husband and I are starting new businesses in Warren County…And we believe this amendment threatens the very environment that we’re trying to cultivate in the region – a thriving place to live and do business This amendment is bad for business and worse for North Carolina.”
- Carla Norwood, owner, The Pie Shop/Warren Foodworks and Community Voice Consulting, Warrenton, N.C.
"It may very well."
- House Speaker Thom Tillis (R) when asked whether the amendment will hurt major North Carolina employers
89% of Fortune 500 companies prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, including Bank of America, Lowe’s, Duke Energy, BB&T, and Reynolds American—the five largest North Carolina-based companies.
“In the face of the worst economy in 80 years and as our neighbors recover from devastating hurricane, the General Assembly is considering a Constitutional amendment that may terminate the legal rights of thousands of same- and opposite-sex couples, creating hardships for employers and employees alike. If other workplaces are anything like mine, please join us in saying enough is enough.”
- Bob Page, Founder & CEO, Replacements, Ltd. Greensboro, N.C.
The amendment would effectively show that his state "does not welcome the diverse workforce that any state needs to compete in the international marketplace.…the next Facebook, Apple, or Google could be created by another North Carolinian… be mindful of how you treat them and their families.”
- Chris Hughes, Facebook Cofounder and native North Carolinian