Tag Archives: Charlotte

Blue Ridge Now reports: State Sen. Tom Apodaca (R-Henderson) has asked his staff to look and see how the General Assembly can charge Charlotte to cover the costs of Wednesday’s special session, including the possibility of withholding the city’s sales tax revenues. Lawmakers met Wednesday and passed a law invalidating a measure the Charlotte City Council passed last month to …

Sports Illustrated reports: Recent anti-LGBT legislation in North Carolina could impact the NBA’s ability to host the 2017 All-Star game in Charlotte, the league announced Thursday. “The NBA is dedicated to creating an inclusive environment for all who attend our games and events,” the statement reads. “We are deeply concerned that this discriminatory law runs counter to our guiding principles …

From the Associated Press: Gov. Pat McCrory signed House Bill 2 into law shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday, overturning Charlotte’s controversial transgender ordinance. McCrory’s office released a statement Wednesday night, saying “the basic expectation of privacy in the most personal of settings, a restroom or locker room, for each gender was violated by government overreach and intrusion by the mayor …

Every North Carolina Senate Democrat just walked out of the chamber rather than vote on the bill which legalizes anti-LGBT discrimination. The remaining GOP Senators then approved the bill 31-0. Having passed the state House earlier by a more than 3-1 margin, the bill now goes to the desk of GOP Gov. Pat McCrory, who will surely sign it. UPDATE: …

LISTEN HERE RIGHT NOW. From Charlotte’s ABC affiliate: Republican General Assembly leaders began a one-day special session Wednesday morning after enough lawmakers requested to reconvene now instead of waiting until late April. They’re responding to worries from constituents and conservative activists about provisions related to transgender people and restrooms. The session began with a House committee meeting, which WXII’s Bill O’Neil …

North Carolina’s GOP has decided to go FULL Kentucky, according to an advance copy of tomorrow’s bill. The Associated Press reports: The North Carolina General Assembly is returning for an expected one-day session Wednesday to block implementation of Charlotte’s new “bathroom ordinance” before it takes effect April 1. But the final legislation is expected to do more than eliminate the …

The Charlotte News & Observer reports: North Carolina legislative leaders announced Monday that they’ll convene a special legislative session Wednesday to deal with Charlotte’s controversial LGBT ordinance. Lawmakers acted on their own after Republican Gov. Pat McCrory declined to call a special session, saying he believes legislators are considering a measure that goes far beyond the Charlotte ordinance. But Lt. …

From the Charlotte News & Observer: N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore said Saturday that he hopes to call a special legislative session within a week to repeal parts of a controversial Charlotte nondiscrimination ordinance. The Charlotte City Council early this month voted to expand protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, including a provision that will allow transgender people …

From the Lincoln County Times-News: Lincoln County state Sen. David Curtis is among 10 members appointed Tuesday by Senate Leader Phil Berger [PHOTO] to work with the N.C. House of Representatives in overturning a Charlotte City Council ordinance before it can go into effect April 1. The committee, headed by Wilkes Republican Sen. Shirley Randleman, will meet for the first …

From the Charlotte News & Observer: N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore said Thursday he’s exploring a possible special legislative session to deal with a controversial provision of Charlotte’s expanded nondiscrimination ordinance. Moore and others object to the so-called bathroom provision that would allow transgender people to use the restroom of their choice, depending on the gender with which they identify. …

Before the Charlotte City Council even voted to approve its LGBT rights law last night, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory had vowed “immediate intervention” if it were to pass. Tonight McCrory and state GOP leaders are moving to make that promise come true and then some. Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed: In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Gov. McCrory said legislators …

Dominic Holden recaps last night’s insanity at Charlotte’s hearing on LGBT rights: More than 100 people packed a council hearing before the vote. Self-identified Christian conservatives, many furious, expressed fear the nondiscrimination law would allow transgender people — and men posing as trans — to sexually assault women in restrooms. They also worried about their religious freedom, saying the bill …

After hours of public testimony which included the usual ranting plus some literal screaming about Jesus, and an actual half-rapped anti-LGBT poem presented by a 12 year-old, tonight the Charlotte City Council approved an LGBT rights ordinance. From the Human Rights Campaign: Tonight, TurnOut! Charlotte, a partnership of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Equality North Carolina, and MeckPAC, hailed the …

The invocation was just given at the Charlotte City Council meeting where a hotly-contested LGBT rights ordinance is about to be heard. Haters and activists have packed the galley. Watch live at this link and weigh in below with us.

This morning as LGBT activists turned in petitions in support of the Charlotte City Council’s vote tonight on LGBT rights, crackpot Pastor Flip Benham crashed their photo op for the local press, waving a bible over their heads. The Twitter account for the anti-LGBT side, which calls themselves Don’t Do It Charlotte, is crowing that the group and the media …

Groups from both sides will rally today in advance of an LGBT rights ordinance to be considered tonight by the Charlotte City Council. North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory last night warned council members that if the ordinance passes, there will likely be “immediate state legislative intervention.” The Charlotte Observer reports: McCrory is concerned about a provision in the proposed expanded …

Every year anti-gay activist Michael Brown and hundreds of his red-shirted supporters wade into Charlotte Pride to scream damnation. This year they can expect a massive crowd. Via the Charlotte Observer: One of the largest LGBT events in the South will take over uptown Charlotte this weekend, bringing in a predicted 100,000 people. Among the expected highlights is a Sunday …

“Hundreds of people packed out the small space in a heated debate over the city’s special SOGI ordinance. In unprecedented numbers, more than 120 signed up to speak at the meeting before the members voted on a measure that would strip the First Amendment rights of anyone with a biblical view of sexuality. In the end, though, even carving out …