#unity wall spotlight

Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself. A: My name is Jesse Gephart.  I’m 28 years old and I’ve lived in North Carolina since 1997.  Currently, my day job is working for Rex Hospital in their cardiac cath lab.  In the evenings, I’m very involved in the Triangle theatre community, having acted in, helped produce, or directed over 35 productions since my return to the area, post-college, in 2005.  I received a BA in Theatre Performance from Appalachian State University.  I came out to my parents when I was 14 years old.  
 Q: Who is in your photo and what does your photo represent to you? A: The photo is of my parents and me.  They’ve been married for 32 years.  My dad’s job moved us from our first home in Gainesville, Florida, to Tallahassee for a brief period, and then into North Carolina.  I don’t have any siblings and my extended family is very small.  This photo captures the happiness that my parents and I share, and it shows off the pride that we have in each other.
 Q: What does it mean to you, to be a North Carolinian / North Carolina family? A: I love North Carolina: mountains to the west, the beach to the east, and in between, gorgeous stretches of land.  I have met my formative, life-long friends here and matured from a young teen to an adult.  I feel like I belong here.  I have different families here: my work family, my theatre family, and my family of friends.  It’s important to me to live in a place where you feel comfortable, and North Carolina is that for me.
 Q: Why did you take a Vote Against photo? A: Curtis asked me to be on the original steering committee for the project and I knew instantly it was something I wanted to help with.  At the private launch party was when I got my first photo taken; a great picture that happened completely by accident.  When the VAP was coming to Pullen Baptist, I brought the idea up to my parents about getting a family picture done.  My dad lives and works in Baltimore most of the time, but he happened to be home for a bit.  My parents knew it was important to me; so we came up, bought shirts, and posed!  It’s important that we, as a family, stand up against this Amendment.  There is power in numbers.
 Q: What about the May 8th Amendment, is important to you?

A: Regardless of the fact that it directly affects me as a human being, the idea that there are people who feel it is acceptable to write discrimination into our state constitution is both frightening and appalling.  Under no circumstance should the majority be given the opportunity to vote on the rights and well being of a minority population.  And beyond that, this Amendment is so broad, its focus so blurred, that people are not able to understand the true harm it will cause, if passed.  It affects more than the LGBT community.  It affects all unmarried couples.  It’s bad for business, it puts North Carolina on the wrong side of history, and it casts our state in a poor light.  This anti-gay marriage fight is being fueled by fear, ignorance, and intolerance.  Those standing on a religious platform are the most unchristian-like of the whole group; preaching hate and enforcing injustice is about as far from God as I think you can go.  But they’re so blindsided by their own fears of change, their own resistances to evolution, their own inabilities to accept.  It’s very sad.

                        Boyfriend, Mack Nance Jr. and Jenna Bailey

Hello all, My name is Jenna Bailey and I am the official Vote Against Best Friend Forever!  Ok, not technically official, but it’s what I like to call myself, even if no one else does.  When I heard about the Vote Against Project, I knew it was going to be amazing.  I have been best friends with Lydia since about 1997.  And Carl and I have known each other since I was 14 years old, and been practically inseparable since about 2003.  A few years later, Curtis entered into my life, and now you can start to see why I’m the OVABFF!  Being good friends with so many people involved in the project, I get a very unique perspective of all of the inner workings of the group.  From the very beginning I was a sounding board for Carl to bounce ideas off of, I got to see the beginnings of his creative masterpieces, I’ve been a sympathetic ear to frustration and exhaustion and a random solo dance party thrower to bask in the excitement and overwhelming popularity of the project.

I have also been able to see the blood, sweat and tears (I haven’t seen blood yet, but there has certainly been sweat and tears) that has gone into this project.  The group behind Vote Against is such an amazingly talented and dedicated group of individuals, it’s enough to make anyone feel proud to even know them.  And lucky for me, I can call some of them my best friends!  I know just how much they put into this project, all while working their full time jobs so they can continue to pay bills and, on occasion, eat dinner.  So I figured, the least I can do is volunteer my time to help.  I was asked to travel with the team to Boone for the App State shoot in January, and I am so glad I did.  I thought I would give you all a little glimpse into our trip, so you can see just how much goes into these shoots.

We started out with some car trouble, so we didn’t leave Raleigh until around 10pm Wednesday night.  We got to Boone around 2am, had to park the trailer on campus, and then travel to the house we would be spending the night in.  One of the team members had a cabin near Boone, so we were very thankful to be able to stay the night there.  Unfortunately we couldn’t figure out the hot water, so we had no showers (you are allowed to be ‘natural’ in the mountains, right??).  We all got about 2 hours of sleep and were up and out of the house at 7am, to get to App State.

Once there we had to move the trailer to the correct parking lot, and then unload all of the equipment and drag it into the room where the shoot would be held.  We were up and running by 10am!  The rest of the day was spent handing out flyers and getting students to the room for the photo shoot.  Even running on 2 hours of sleep, all of the team members stayed positive, helpful and informative throughout the entire affair! After about 6 hours and 250 people(!!), we had to tear everything down and load it up so we could drive back home to Raleigh that night.  Then Friday, back to work at our regular jobs.  If you’re exhausted reading that, imagine how everyone felt participating in it!  Amazingly, with the lack of sleep, and the masked body odor, the shoot went seamlessly.  We were able to educate hundreds of people on the amendment, get people registered to vote, and take beautiful pictures of people standing up against discrimination, to allow them to share the word with others!  

             Judy (Shari's mother), Amanda, Rocco (her son), and Shari

Q: Tell us a little bit about yourselves

A: Shari was adopted by a Jewish family from Brooklyn, NY where she spent most of her youth. She made the move down south to NC to attend Elon University. I, on the other hand....am a southern girl! Born in San Antonio, TX and raised most of my life in NC, ironically by an Italian, Catholic mother. Shari and I met in the year 2000 through mutual friends and even though we lost touch from time to time still remained in contact. :-).

Q: What does your Vote Against Photo symbolize to you?

A: Our vote against photo is a special one. It truly represents four very different/separate people (only two of whom are related) and how are lives came together. You have two women (us) presumably a lesbian couple, a mixed race child (it may not be clear on who the birth mother is by just looking at the picture) and one of our mothers :-). For us it symbolizes unity over many generations on religion, race and sexuality.

Q: Why did you take a Vote Against photo?

A: We took the vote against photo for Curtis Brown. to support and become part of his cause. We strongly believe in and are proud to be involved in any way with this project and the many lives it will affect.

Q: What about the May 8th Amendment, is important to you?

A: Equal rights for every unmarried couple, which may have the greatest affect on us since currently we are not even able to be recognized as domestic partners.

Q: How will the outcome of the May 8th Amendment affect you and your family?

A: The outcome of this amendment could affect our family greatly on many different levels. Wow, where to start with this....well....the scariest part to me is if the outcome is not positive. That would be, for example: if something happened to me and I was in the hospital. Shari would not be able to come see me and we wouldn't be able to put any legalities into place to protect us no matter what. Not to mention my son, who is of no relation to Shari but is being raised and loved by her as well. Where would that leave him? I'm not sure she would even be able to bring him to see me. Reverse this, we would not be able to see Shari or have anything in place that protects us as a family unit. No matter how long we have been together.

Q: What would you tell someone who is unsure about voting against the amendment?

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself/yourselves.

We are Jason Franasiak and Kaitlin Mercurio.  We are recently married (May will mark our one year anniversary) and are enjoying every minute!  We moved to NC about two and a half years ago for Jason to attend UNC as an OB/GYN resident. I (Kaitlin), am an actress originally from Long Island, NY.  Jason and I met in Jason's home state of Virginia at Busch Gardens.  We were both in college working hard over the summer, I as a performer and Jason as an EMT, lets just say, I'm glad I got sick!  We currently live downtown Durham with our dog Bear.

2. What does your photo represent for you?

It represents our unity and togetherness.  It shows the joy that two people experience when they find that special someone to share their life with. Not only is Jason my husband but my best friend and partner in life. 

3. What does it mean to you, to be a North Carolinian/North Carolina Family?

North Carolina has welcomed us with open arms.  It has showed us that southern hospitality has it's roots in acceptance, kindness and love of all people.

4. Why did you take a VOTE AGAINST photo?

We took this photo to come together with the community and stand up for something we believe in.  They always say, "a picture paints a thousand words," imagine what hundreds or thousands of photos would say? 

5. What about the May 8th Amendment is important to you?

What part of it isn't?  The most important part isn't about what the amendment physically says, but what it stands for. When reading in between the lines it says that the government will "decide" what "marriage" is. It will take away rights from people just because they are different then what the government of NC defines as "normal.". It is so important that this be recognized for what it actually is, discrimination.

6. How will the outcome of the May 8th vote affect you?

It will affect us because it will affect our friends, our neighbors, andour  fellow North Carolinians.  To quote a cliche cult Disney movie, "we're all in this together," what affects the people we know and love affects us.

Model: Anonymous

Occupation: Army - Rotary Wing Aviator

Q: Why are you taking a Vote Against photo today?

A: Personally, it's mostly a desire to do something profound. To be a part of something bigger than myself, that's something I aim to achieve.

Q: What about the May 8th Amendment, is important to you?

A: Any piece of legislation, that is set in stone, serves as a guiding example for our next generation. We should be careful about what example we set.

Q: How will the outcome of the May 8th Amendment affect you?