NC People - Charlotte LGBT ordinance

[CrazyLucky]

The state legislature has declared a special session to try to repeal the ordinance that the Charlotte Council passed to allow more rights for LBGT people.  They are doing it "for the privacy and protection of women and children of our state."  Are you thrilled to have such nice gentlemen protecting you from the terrible people who want to use the women's bathroom?  If not, write to your state representative, and tell them what you think.


www.ncleg.net/representation/WhoRepresentsMe.aspx

[LeggsBenedict]

thank you for posting this.

[ladyk]

Sigh...

How about dealing with our teacher pay which is 42nd in the nation? How about you have increased hurdles to get an abortion? How about expanding Medicaid gap? How about making sure people have food and shelter? Coal ash? DOT Map Act holding people's property hostage for 20+ years and not having to pay them?

Bueller?

[aurora]

What about privacy and protection of the women and children who identify as LGBTQ? Don't they deserve the same?

[marriedfilingjoint]

Utter BS.

[isabel]

What about the privacy and protection of men? Or is it just women who are too weak to protect themselves against a scary transgender person?

[orval]

Well, I for one, did not know it was a problem to go into the restroom of a different gender. I have used the men's room many times- right here in Charlotte. I hate to wait in line for the in the women's room. I have no idea what takes so long.
It is absolutely ridiculous they are having a special session.

[ladyk]

Um, everyone: Read the bill. It's worse than what was "leaked".

What.The.Everlovin.F**k

[icedtea]

For people who aren't sure how to start: equalitync.org/action/legislators/.

[wawa]

Mar 23, 2016 8:39:58 GMT -5 ladyk said:

Um, everyone: Read the bill. It's worse than what was "leaked".

What.The.Everlovin.F**k

link?

[ladyk]

www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/under-the-dome/article67731847.html

in the link is a hyperlink to House Bill 2. I can't get it to come up on the NC General Assembly page.

[toepick]

I'm telling you - there is not a chance in hell that I would ever move to North Carolina. Not for a gazillion dollars. Not for my dream job. (And I currently live in Kentucky, which is saying something!) Good luck when all the major businesses start bailing. Don't hold your breath waiting for a Super Bowl or an All-Stars game. Or a major convention. These legislators are on the wrong side of history and the whole thing is disgusting and appalling.

[marriedfilingjoint]

NC is a great place to live, and with our population growth, particularly young educated people moving to metropolitan areas, the state is becoming more liberal. We have an excellent university system, and with or without in state tuition, and even if you go to a private college, our schools are consistently ranked the best values in the country. The Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill metro area is one of the most educated populations in the country and they have a wealth of high paying jobs but the cost of living hasn't quite yet got sky high. Our political leaders leave a lot to be desired but as we grow its going to get better.

[toepick]

Mar 23, 2016 15:21:08 GMT -5 mryrcn said:

Mar 23, 2016 14:12:30 GMT -5 toepick said:

I'm telling you - there is not a chance in hell that I would ever move to North Carolina. Not for a gazillion dollars. Not for my dream job. (And I currently live in Kentucky, which is saying something!) Good luck when all the major businesses start bailing. Don't hold your breath waiting for a Super Bowl or an All-Stars game. Or a major convention. These legislators are on the wrong side of history and the whole thing is disgusting and appalling.

We already had an NHL All Stars game & it was labeled as one of the best. NC is damn good at hosting sporting events. The
politics are just fucked up like a lot of other states.

[

Not saying you can't throw a good one. Just that nobody is going to be willing to hold one after this bill passes. The NFL already said that they wouldn't hold a super bowl in Georgia if their bill passes, and the NC bill is way worse.

[toepick]

Mar 23, 2016 16:31:45 GMT -5 marriedfilingjoint said:

NC is a great place to live, and with our population growth, particularly young educated people moving to metropolitan areas, the state is becoming more liberal. We have an excellent university system, and with or without in state tuition, and even if you go to a private college, our schools are consistently ranked the best values in the country. The Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill metro area is one of the most educated populations in the country and they have a wealth of high paying jobs but the cost of living hasn't quite yet got sky high. Our political leaders leave a lot to be desired but as we grow its going to get better.

I don't disagree with any of this. But your political leaders have made it a very inhospitable place to relocate to. If my company told me they were moving there, I would not go. I vote with my feet.

[marriedfilingjoint]

Mar 23, 2016 16:56:04 GMT -5 @barefootbarista said:

Mar 23, 2016 14:12:30 GMT -5 toepick said:

I'm telling you - there is not a chance in hell that I would ever move to North Carolina. Not for a gazillion dollars. Not for my dream job. (And I currently live in Kentucky, which is saying something!) Good luck when all the major businesses start bailing. Don't hold your breath waiting for a Super Bowl or an All-Stars game. Or a major convention. These legislators are on the wrong side of history and the whole thing is disgusting and appalling.

NBA All Star is in Charlotte next yr.

GTG?!

[wawa]

A transgendered friend of mine posted on FB: "I'll add NC to the list of places I can't visit since I risk being arrested every time I use a public restroom."

How depressing is that? Like...that's a real thing. That may happen to a real person. These asshats are in favor of a situation where a law abiding citizen does not have a public bathroom they can use in the state that wouldn't either cause a ruckus (when somebody who identifies as male, and certainly looks male walks into the women's) or be actually illegal (when he uses the men's) WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?

I know my friend and family circle encompasses way the hell more of the LGTB world than is average, but do they really not know a single trans person? Like...not one? none of them? And if they do...how can they look that person in the face and tell them this is totally reasonable? Can they imagine what it's been like for decades where something as simple as using the bathroom has been fraught with tension for these people as there is no "right" or more importantly SAFE choice for them - and we're FINALLY making progress on it - and they want to go backwards because....REASONS. SAFETY. CHILDREN!

FUCKING A.

[Velvetshady]

As per Rep Graig Meyer's FB page, this isn't just* about discrimination of LBGT people, it's basically about the legal discrimination of anyone.

Rep. Graig Meyer
13 hrs ·

It gets worse. Today's discriminatory new law also means:

-It is now legal for businesses that provide public accommodation to out up signs that say "No gays allowed". Or no veterans. Or no pregnant women.
-Orange County's long standing non-discrimination law that protects people based on veterans status and family status is now invalid.
-We join Mississippi as the only states without state law provisions that protect private sector workers from employment discrimination.
-Fired for being Muslim? Or Christian? Or any other religion? Or for being female? Or male? You now have no course of action for petitioning our state courts.

* Not that this wasn't bad enough on its own

I have friends mentioning organizing a sit-in over this to "calmly rioting" (meaning protesting on the streets while not being a white male).

[Deleted]

Wow. So much hate and discrimination all because some people are uncomfortable. How awful.

[mrsukyankee]

That is horrifying.

[marriedfilingjoint]

Mar 24, 2016 11:46:29 GMT -5 Velvetshady said:

As per Rep Graig Meyer's FB page, this isn't just* about discrimination of LBGT people, it's basically about the legal discrimination of anyone.

Rep. Graig Meyer
13 hrs ·

It gets worse. Today's discriminatory new law also means:

-It is now legal for businesses that provide public accommodation to out up signs that say "No gays allowed". Or no veterans. Or no pregnant women.
-Orange County's long standing non-discrimination law that protects people based on veterans status and family status is now invalid.
-We join Mississippi as the only states without state law provisions that protect private sector workers from employment discrimination.
-Fired for being Muslim? Or Christian? Or any other religion? Or for being female? Or male? You now have no course of action for petitioning our state courts.

* Not that this wasn't bad enough on its own

I have friends mentioning organizing a sit-in over this to "calmly rioting" (meaning protesting on the streets while not being a white male).

Right, and I feel like NO ONE IS LISTENING. BECAUSE CHILD MOLESTERS AND PERVERTS IN BATHROOMS. :beats head against the wall:

[toepick]

And here come the calls to move the NBA All Star Game and the NCAA games next game:

www.sportingnews.com/nba-news/4699587-nba-all-star-game-adam-silver-north-carolina-lgbt-law-indiana-ncaa

We’ll spare you the pablum about the power of sports. In the end, it’s about money and prestige. The fact that sports can deliver both gives our games a special political weight, and we’ve seen the impact that weight can have on the broader society.

The NBA has been as proactive as any league in American sports when it comes to addressing issues that resonate beyond its own games, including raising awareness about discrimination based on sexual orientation. The league has shown little tolerance for anti-gay language, most recently suspending point guard Rajon Rondo for using homophobic language against referee Bill Kennedy, who later announced that he is gay.

Now the league has a very stark and obvious opportunity to directly right a societal wrong that has made its way through the North Carolina legislature. The city of Charlotte will be hosting next year’s NBA All-Star game, putting the league in the uncomfortable position of bringing thousands of players, media members and fans to a state that just passed what one publication called, “the broadest anti-LGBT bill in the country.”

The politics are not very complex. Last month, the city of Charlotte passed an ordinance protecting the rights of the LGBT community, which included allowing transgender people to use the public restroom of their gender identity. The bathroom issue was seized upon by anti-LGBT legislators at the statewide level (following the playbook of other successful anti-LGBT activists, most notably with a similar law passed in Houston), portraying it as a safety matter by suggesting that dangerous men would take advantage of the law to use women’s bathrooms. It’s a bogus way to justify discrimination.

But in North Carolina, it worked. Last night, the state’s legislature quickly OK’d a bill banning transgender people from some public bathrooms and went further by overturning anti-discrimination ordinances in Charlotte and other cities. Some state senators walked out in disgust. Gov. Pat McCrory quickly signed it late last night.

The state’s attorney general, Roy Cooper, said in a video statement, “That North Carolina is making discrimination part of the law is shameful.”

This is where the NBA should come in. Next year’s NBA All-Star Game will bring the state prestige and, more significantly, money. Lots of money. But the league is not obligated to hold its All-Star Game in the state, and it should now make clear that the actions of the state legislature and McCrory are unacceptable.

Remember, a year ago, the state of Indiana passed the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which among other things, allowed businesses in the state to discriminate against LGBT people. When that bill passed, the NCAA was preparing to hold the Final Four in Indianapolis, and the organization’s president, Mark Emmert, came out strongly against the legislation, suggesting that its continued implementation would cause the NCAA to reconsider holding future major events in the state.

There was a push to get the NCAA to move the Final Four last spring, and though that was not feasible, the pressure that came from players and coaches in and around the event had an impact. It led to a cascade of national criticism. Emmert lobbied to have changes made to the Indiana law, rendering it much weaker. The NCAA scored a victory on that count: a week after passing the law, the Indiana legislature did vote to change it.

It should now be the NBA’s turn. Former commissioner David Stern took pride in his league’s forward-thinking on the issue of discrimination based on sexual orientation, and when former NBA player John Amaechi revealed he was gay, Stern pushed to have the issue of gay players discussed in rookie orientation seminars back in 2007. Stern drew praise from the Human Rights Campaign when he fined Kobe Bryant $100,000 and Joakim Noah $50,000 for using anti-gay slurs in 2011, and in that year’s collective-bargaining negotiations, Stern and the players union agreed to include a non-discrimination policy based on sexual orientation.

The NBA beamed with pride when executive Rick Welts, then with the Suns, openly acknowledged he was gay in a New York Times story, and when center Jason Collins graced the cover of Sports Illustrated to declare he is gay.

Those actions certainly reflect changing attitudes and forward-thinking on the part of the league. But the North Carolina law and the upcoming NBA All-Star Game offer something more significant: the ability for Stern’s successor, Adam Silver, to put real change into effect.

The NCAA did it in Indiana, wielding the power of the financial riches that come with its events in order to reverse a backwards law. Now, it’s the NBA’s chance.

[WanderingWinoZ]

Well, looks like the gop knows how to legislate when they want. This is nuts!!! Can somebody c&p this- they wiped out tons of equality protections across the state in less than 12 hours
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/north-carolina-anti-lgbt-bill

[sharknado]

Idiots, I can't wait to move back to Colorado.

[mominatrix]

I love how the GOP is all about local government control, right?, that localities are best suited to legislate, moreso than states, just as the states are better suited to legislate than the federal government...

Unless it means that the localities are protecting people's rights. Then, OOPS!!!, the state can pull out the big guns and bash the localities about the head and neck.




also, as somebody who enforced these laws for a living for 15 years, who understands how the federal/state/local laws work in this area, let me tell you just how PISSED I am. The bigger, farther away governments set the floor beneath which laws can't sink, not a ceiling above which they can't rise.

fuckers

[toepick]

The NBA has condemned the law and its possible effect on the All Stars game.


The NBA released a statement Thursday condemning anti-LGBT legislation that passed in North Carolina this week, indicating it's possible the league will move the 2017 All-Star Game.

"The NBA is dedicated to creating an inclusive environment for all who attend our games and events," the statement read. "We are deeply concerned that this discriminatory law runs counter to our guiding principles of equality and mutual respect and do not know yet what impact it will have on our ability to successfully host the 2017 All-Star Game in Charlotte."

[ladyk]

Mar 24, 2016 13:25:22 GMT -5 WanderingWinoZ said:

Well, looks like the gop knows how to legislate when they want. This is nuts!!! Can somebody c&p this- they wiped out tons of equality protections across the state in less than 12 hours
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/north-carolina-anti-lgbt-bill

"
Gotta take my lumps on this. TPM Reader SM was flagging the North Carolina anti-LGBT bill to us all day yesterday via email, and I was too busy on other things to give it a close look. So let me yield the floor to SM:

Not to beat a dead horse here (kinda surprised there's been no TPM coverage of this at all), but what happened in NC on Wednesday was nothing short of breathtaking.

In a span of 12 hours, the GOP political leadership of this state called the General Assembly back to Raleigh for a special session, introduced legislation written by leadership and not previously made available to members or the public, held "hearings" on that legislation, passed it through both chambers of the legislature, and it was signed by the GOP Governor.

The special legislation was called, ostensibly, to prevent an ordinance passed last month by the Charlotte City Council, from going into effect on April 1. That ordinance would have expanded the city's LGBT anti-discrimination ordinance, and would have allowed transgendered people to use public restrooms that corresponds with their gender identity.

But the legislation introduced and passed into law by the General Assembly yesterday didn't simply roll back that ordinance. It implemented a detailed state-wide regulation of public restrooms, and limited a person's use of those restrooms to only those restrooms that correspond with one's "biological sex," defined in the new state law as the sex identified on one's birth certificate. (So yes, by law in NC now, transgender porn star Buck Angel (look him up) will have to use the women's room...isn't that precisely what these lawmakers are actually wanting to prevent?).

But the legislation didn't stop there. It also expressly pre-empted all municipal and county ordinances or policies broader than the official state anti-discrimination statute, which does not include sexual orientation or gender identity among the list of prohibited bases of discrimination. So that effectively wipes out local LGBT anti-discrimination protections in numerous NC cities (and, ironically, wipes out the protection of discrimination based on "veterans status" in Greensboro and Orange County (Chapel Hill)).

But wait, there's more. The legislation also expressly states that there can be no statutory or common law private right of action to enforce the state's anti-discrimination statutes in the state courts. So if a NC resident is the victim of racial discrimination in housing or employment, for example, that person is now entirely barred from going to state court to get an injunction, or to get damages of any kind. The new law completely defangs the state's anti-discrimination statute, rendering it entirely unenforceable by the citizens of the state.


But wait, there's more! The legislation also prohibits municipalities and counties from passing a higher minimum wage than the State's. Not that any municipality or county had done that...but in case any of them were thinking about it, that's now prohibited, too.
This is much broader than the RFRA laws that we saw in Indiana and Arkansas last summer, and that Georgia is dealing with right now. The NC legislature learned the lessons from those states and the political and corporate/business blow-back, and did this all before anyone could pay attention.



12 hours, start to finish."

[LeggsBenedict]

ncte is holding an open conference call tomorrow afternoon to discuss the law, and their next steps.
salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/51171/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=5957

if you can't make the call, but are looking for ways to help:
www.transequality.org/ncaction

[marriedfilingjoint]

So we can finally discriminate against white hardcore evangelical Southern Baptists? This law is BS but we need to take full advantage while it lasts.

[Velvetshady]

Mar 25, 2016 9:11:33 GMT -5 marriedfilingjoint said:

So we can finally discriminate against white hardcore evangelical Southern Baptists? This law is BS but we need to take full advantage while it lasts.

I was thinking about this on the way home last night--it would be fantastic if all minority owned businesses put up signs stating "No Non-Disabled White Males Allowed/Served". Absolutely fan-fucking-tastic.  I can here the "Reverse-discrimination/oh poor abused/war against white male" whines already.