Your average public issue forum includes a speaker or two, a Powerpoint presentation, maybe a panel discussion.
Musical theater, not so much.
So the Orange County Human Relations Commission's Human Relations Month Forum, set for Sunday at the Carrboro Century Center, will be a little unusual.
The forum, "Defining Marriage in North Carolina by Constitutional Amendment: What Are the Implications?" will include, along with a panel discussion, a live production of "Amendment One: The Musical."
UNC sophomore Rachel Kaplan wrote, produces and directs the six-minute musical, which debuted as a video on Youtube.
In the piece, two groups of characters engage in a musical debate over Amendment One, the May 8 ballot referendum that would amend the state constitution to define marriage solely as between one man and one woman.
When the pro-amendment forces imply that the Founding Fathers would be on their side, George Washington appears on stage to set them straight, reminding them that "all people are equal, without exception/To think that marriage is not a right is self-deception."
The forum is open to the public. It will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Century Center, 100 N. Greensboro St., preceded by a performance by The Moaners at 2:30. The panel discussion will feature Stuart Campbell, executive director of Equality North Carolina; Maxine Eichner, Reef C. Ivey III Professor of Law at the UNC School of Law; and Brett Webb-Mitchell, an ordained minister and visiting associate professor at N.C. Central.
The Moaners will perform at 2:30 p.m.
Dave Hart is the associate editor of The Chapel Hill News.He can be reached at 
