Tracy Hollister speaks at a Wake County Board of Commissioners' meeting, urging members not to support the amendment. (Credit: News Observer)
The Southeast District of the Unitarian Universalist Association presented Tracy Hollister with a 2012 Congregational Excellence Award from the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh last weekend in recognition of her tireless efforts to defeat Amendment One. The amendment bans marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships for same-sex couples in the North Carolina state constitution.
As stated in the letter nominating her for the award:
Through her work to defeat the proposed Amendment, Tracy holds up many of our UU principles – the inherent worth and dignity of every person; justice, equity and compassion in human relations; acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations; the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large; and the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all…
Tracy’s personal commitment is evident. She reaches out to fellow congregants, and responds quickly to questions about this issue, or how best to show support… She most recently made the difficult decision to leave her job as to leave her job [as a manager of research on corporate training] to dedicate herself full-time to defeating the Amendment…Her energy, talent, commitment, passion, and compassion are amazing.
Tracy’s advocacy against Amendment One is multifaceted. She co-chaired the UU Fellowship of Raleigh Task Force to Protect All North Carolina Families, which held forums at the congregation and proposed a statement of conscience opposing the amendment; co-organized a successful fundraising concert; wrote and directed two videos for the Coalition to Protect All North Carolina Families; and organized 33 phone banks at the Fellowship to identify like-minded voters and get out the vote. Tracy recruited about seven volunteer “staff” to run these phone banks, including Tracy’s best friend and chief phone bank captain Maddy Goss, who was largely responsible for making the phone bank the success that it was. Tracy feels Maddy is equally deserving of this award.
Though Amendment One passed earlier this week, enshrining discrimination into the North Carolina state constitution, Tracy’s work has had an enormous impact on the Raleigh community and is an inspiration to us all. Thank you, Tracy–you are truly a hero.
