Tag Archives: North Carolina

Playbill reports that North Carolina’s Triangle Gay Men’s Chorus and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington were performing in a Raleigh park when nearby street preachers began shouting bible verses calling for their deaths. They write: A local resident, Elizabeth Breakey, captured the incident on video and posted on Facebook, where she wrote, “This particular moment in Moore Square was …

After the NBA and LGBT activists objected to a “fix” to North Carolina’s anti-LGBT laws that many said was worse than the original, the clock ran out last night with only a minor change. The Charolotte Observer reports: The North Carolina legislature adjourned for the year late Friday after lawmakers gave final approval to the state budget, hammered out or …

The Associated Press reports: North Carolina lawmakers took steps Thursday to set aside a half-million dollars for the legal defense of a law limiting protections for LGBT people as a judge sought to streamline a cluster of lawsuits it has inspired. Republican lawmakers were mapping out the end of the session, including possible changes to the law known as House …

Earlier this week LGBT activists denounced the attempt by North Carolina Republicans to “refine” the anti-transgender section of HB2. This afternoon the NBA and the Charlotte Hornets joined in. Their message: “We have been engaged in dialogue with numerous groups at the city and state levels, but we do not endorse the version of the bill that we understand is …

From the Charlotte Observer: New legislation drafted by leadership in the N.C. House of Representatives seeks to walk back portions of a controversial bill passed during a special session this spring restricting the rights of transgender individuals to use the bathroom of their gender identity. Among the draft bill’s biggest changes is the creation of an official document that would …

From the Charlotte Observer: Did the victims of the Orlando gay nightclub shooting deserve to die? You’d think a candidate running for the North Carolina Senate would be among the last people to pose an incendiary question like that in a public forum. But Bob Diamond, a pharmacist and Mecklenburg GOP activist running for the District 37 seat held by …

Politico reports: Rep. George Holding won the Republican primary for a newly redrawn district in North Carolina, beating Rep. Renee Ellmers, who became the first GOP incumbent to lose in a primary this year. Holding, who was first elected in 2012, had 52 percent of the vote with nearly two-thirds of precincts reporting when The Associated Press called the race. …

MUST WATCH: Harvey Fierstein, Cyndi Lauper, and the cast of the Tony winning Best Musical Kinky Boots today delivered us a fun message against those stupid, stupid anti-transgender bathroom laws. “I’m me! I don’t need ID to tell who am I and where I oughta pee!”

From the Winston-Salem Journal: Gov. Pat McCrory said he will continue to fight for a “respect for privacy” in the face of a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit over the state’s controversial “bathroom bill.” McCrory was speaking at North Carolinians for Home Education’s annual conference, being held this week at the Benton Convention Center. McCrory praised the several hundred families …

USA Today reports: If there isn’t satisfactory resolution to North Carolina House Bill 2 by the end of summer, Charlotte risks losing the 2017 All-Star Game, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said before Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday. Silver has expressed the league’s opposition to the controversial bill, which nullified local ordinances that gave protections and rights to …

The Charlotte Observer reports: The Human Rights Campaign is asking the Federal Aviation Administration to consider whether House Bill 2 is causing North Carolina airports to violate grant requirements. If the FAA joined the U.S. Department of Justice’s position that HB2 violates the Civil Rights Act, the move could jeopardize millions of dollars in federal funding that helps operate and …

Big news via the ACLU: The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit will not rehear the case of a Gloucester County transgender high school student suing his school board over discriminatory bathroom policies. The court today denied the Gloucester County School Board’s request for an en banc review of an April decision which held that Title IX …

From the Associated Press: The University of North Carolina system told a federal court Friday that it won’t enforce a law requiring transgender students to use restrooms corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates. The declaration came in a motion asking a federal court to halt civil legal proceedings against the university system while a higher court decides a …

From Alliance Defending Freedom: Don’t mess with my kids. That’s the message two North Carolina moms want the Obama Administration to hear. They are part of the nonprofit organization North Carolinians for Privacy, which – with the help of Alliance Defending Freedom – is suing the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). The lawsuit …

Charlotte’s WBTV reports: The San Francisco 49ers are calling for a repeal of House Bill 2. The team’s CEO, Jed York, made the announcement, along with a “gift” of $75,000 to the Equality North Carolina Foundation to “further their work.” York met with advocates and transgender North Carolinians to learn more about how the bill has impacted them. York is …

Billboard Magazine reports: Dave Matthews Band still plans to perform in Charlotte, N.C., on May 27, despite North Carolina’s controversial “bathroom bill,” but said they will donate a portion of the proceeds from the show to five charitable organizations. Equality groups American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Lambda Legal, ACLU of North Carolina, Equality NC and Time Out Youth will all …

Whoa. From the Charlotte Observer: Mecklenburg County has suffered an economic blow of $285 million and a loss of as many as 1,300 jobs as a result of House Bill 2, a new Charlotte Chamber report says. The report also says inquiries about new economic development are down 58 percent since lawmakers passed the bill in March, and client visits …

The Charlotte Observer reports: As the Charlotte City Council prepares for a possible vote Monday on repealing its own nondiscrimination ordinance, the Human Rights Campaign has mounted an intense lobbying effort to keep it in place and has accused the Charlotte Chamber of being an “anti-LGBT bully.” The Washington-based HRC, a gay rights group that helped the city write the …

Via press release from GLAAD: Multi platinum-selling recording artist Demi Lovato wore her support for the transgender community during the 24th Annual Billboard Music Awards on Sunday, once again taking a strong stand against North Carolina’s anti-LGBT law known as HB2. During her performance, the GLAAD Vanguard Award recipient wore a T-shirt featuring an inclusive bathroom symbol. A replica of …

Lambda Legal’s Jon Davidson put it in context for what’s happening today: To quote late New York Yankee baseball great Yogi Berra, “it’s déjà vu all over again.” Today marks the 20th anniversary of the groundbreaking U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Romer v. Evans, Lambda Legal’s successful challenge, in partnership with the ACLU and some of Colorado’s top lawyers, to …