Randy Gillis, a gay man from Sophia NC, walked 96 miles to meet Sen. Peter Brunstetter, one of the main architects behind Amendment One, and hand him letters describing how Amendment One has negatively impacted the writers’ lives. So, he was disappointed to find that Sen. Brunstetter was in budget discussions all day and could not meet him. Instead, Gillis handed the 23 letters to Lt. Martin Brock of the NC General Assembly Police, who promised to give them to Sen. Brunstetter.
“I’m disappointed that (Brunstetter) kind of, you know, snarked out,” Gillis said after leaving the NC General Assembly on June 14. “But I’m happy I got that close.” We followed Gillis on his walk to the General Assembly. You can watch his journey here.
This is what Gillis wrote to the Senator:
Senator Brunstetter,
I walked nearly 100 miles to bring this letter to you. My hope was to meet you, to look into your eyes and tell you my story. I wanted to meet the stranger that somehow managed to convince some of my friends and family that I am something that they need protection from. I wanted to meet the stranger that somehow managed to convince the majority of voters that they don’t have gay family members or gay friends or gay coworkers. That gay people don’t touch their lives in any way. I wanted to meet the stranger that somehow managed to morph North Carolina’s LGBT community into a faceless threat that had to be crushed.
Amendment one doesn’t protect marriage. It destroys relationships. When Amendment one is ultimately stricken down as unconstitutional (and it will be) the relationships that have been wounded by it may never be the same.
I just wanted you to know that.
Sincerely,
Randy Gillis
