“While winning eight out of hundred counties may not seem like much, it is important to recognize that the Great Eight (Buncombe, Chatham, Dare, Durham, Mecklenburg, Orange, Wake, and Watauga) are also home to what Americans love most about North Carolina. These counties include the cities of Asheville, Pittsboro, Cape Hatteras, Durham, Charlotte, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and Boone. These eight counties represent about 28 percent of the state’s population and are centers of education, the arts, business innovation, technology, and tourism. Even in counties where the amendment passed, like Guilford, New Hanover, and Forsyth, their county seats — Greensboro, Wilmington, and Winston-Salem — soundly defeated it. Now, more than ever, the North Carolina LGBT community needs to know from you that the work we’ve done fighting this amendment and creating these wonderful places is acknowledged by our friends from elsewhere.”

-Mark Kleinschmidt, Chapel Hill’s mayor on HuffPost

(Way to go Mark- you said all the things I’ve been trying to say but haven’t fully articulated. Thanks for standing up for what’s best about our state!)