On Saturday, November 22, 2014, Clay Aiken attended the 8th Annual Equality Gala in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Gala was held in the beautiful Empire Room in downtown Greensboro. The theme for the Equality Gala was “Get Engaged, NC” and the event was sold out.
Through social networking, there were some pictures and messages about event.
Joanne Spataro @LookitsJoanne Clay Aiken and I are officially an item at #ENCGala.
Cape Fear Equality @FollowCFE · Masonboro, NC Susan and Lorraine arm in arm with @clayaiken #equalitymatters @lroderick1 @SusanSlynch @ZeddySF @equalitync
Unfortunately, there were a few protesters outside of the event. According to the following tweet, the protesters were members of the Westboro Baptist Church.
Equality NC
@equalitync
#ENCGala14 protested! Police say it’s Westboro Baptist Church! This is one of five, and they have two vans circling.
equalitync Amen. #loveislove #encfgala14
It was reported that the counter-protesters out numbered the Westboro group by a large number. According to the following message on FaceBook, Clay was right there to thank the “counter-protesters.”
Bill Falcon
So just saw Clay Aiken head across the street to shake the hands of the counter protesters. Go Clay!
But, in spite of the protesters, the event was a huge success.
A “Selfie”
According to the Adam Foundation:
Equality NC is a statewide group dedicated to securing equal rights and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. They work toward that goal by effectively lobbying the North Carolina General Assembly, executive branch, and local governments on issues like inclusive anti-bullying policies, employment discrimination, hate violence, privacy rights, sexuality education, adoption, domestic partnership, HIV/AIDS, and more. They also work to engage North Carolinians with educational programming and outreach efforts.
Equality NC refers to three connected nonprofit corporations:
– Equality NC – Their parent organization, which conducts lobbying and advocacy efforts.
– Equality NC PAC – Their political action committee, which works to elect fair-minded candidates.
– Equality NC Foundation – Their organization that provides educational programming on LGBT issues and conducts campaigns to build public support for equal rights.
It was good to see Clay at the Gala even though, according to attendees, he is fighting a cold.
Westboro Baptist Church never wins in North Carolina.,
Gee imagine him fighting a cold. He was campaigning non stop for months. His body probably has no immune system left. Once again he looks great!!
The Westboro Baptist protesters are a piece of work. For being "Christians" they hate everything. Gays, veterans,show up at fallen soldiers funerals to protest the war.
The blog is wonderful as always musician. Thanks
Great post, good for you Clay, he's not afraid to stand up for what he believes is right, equal rights for all. Take care of that cold Clay.
Thanks Musicfan.
Westboro Baptist protesters showed up at several military funerals here in Ohio. It is hard to imagine how people can be filled with so much hate. Thank God for folks like Clay who are for inclusion of all. Hope Clay is over his cold by Nov. 30 (birthday). He has much to celebrate. He may have lost the battle this time, but he has lots of fight left, and even more people who love and respect him.
It was nice to see Clay at the gala last night. This was an important event and many people were excited to see Clay there.
Thank you for covering this event.