LAURINBURG, N.C. — An anti-gay grassroots activist running for a spot in the state Senate is attacking his incumbent, Democratic opponent over his pro-equality votes on anti-bullying and sex ed laws passed last year
Jason Phibbs, who has worked as the Stanly County organizer for the anti-gay NC4Marriage, told a small group at a town hall this week that Sen. Bill Purcell was “promoting homosexuality.” He says Purcell’s yes votes on the School Violence Prevention Act and Healthy Youth Act will encourage “legitimization” of homosexuality and allow schools to teach about gay sex.
“Now school systems can teach whatever they want,” Phibbs said, according to The Laurinburg Exchange. “… If they want, they can teach homosexual sexuality. They can do that.”
Purcell has defended his votes, saying all children should be protected from bullying and that new measures were needed to help curb rising pregnancy rates.
Purcell, currently in his sixth term, represents the Senate’s 25th District. Sixty percent of voters there are registered Democrats.
As a county organizer for NC4Marriage, Phibbs presented to the Stanly County Board of Commissioners last April a resolution to amend the state’s constitution to discriminate against same-sex couples. Although the board discussed the matter briefly, and each member indicated they thought marriage was “between one man and one woman,” the elected body has never approved the measure. Fifteen counties and one town across the state have approved such resolutions from NC4Marriage.
While they are both apparently equally bigoted, the Stanly County Board of Commissioners have more fiscal sense than candidate Jason Phibbs.
NC4Marriage’s proposal to have a special referendum in 2009 to ban something that is already illegal (!) would have cost the state’s taxpayers over $5.7 million (link below) with much of the burden falling on the backs of counties — that means property tax increases in NC.
I wonder if the people of Stanly County and the rest of the district really want a careless spender, like this Republican Phibbs fellow, in charge of their money.
Fiscal Note from the General Assembly for 2009 amendment proposal:
http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2009/FiscalNotes/Senate/PDF/SFN0272v1.pdf
Either Phibbs is lying, or he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, when he says “now school systems can teach whatever they want.” Teaching “homosexual sexuality” is nowhere to be found in the N.C. Standard Course of Study.