NC county passes LGBTQ resolution; dares state to pass nondiscrimination laws
Wed. February 3, 2021 8:56 PM by Gerald Farinas
photo credit // tim bieler on unsplash
Charlotte, NC -
North Carolina's Mecklenberg County passed a symbolic non-discrimination resolution on Tuesday to make the metropolitan Charlotte a more welcoming place for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer residents, and visitors.
The Board of Commissioners vote was unanimous.
The resolution demands that LGBTQ persons are treated with “respect and dignity.” It also asks businesses and organizations to adopt non-discrimination policies for its employees and customers—and for cities and townships to adopt non-discrimination ordinances for themselves.
Commissioner Susan Rodrigues-McDowell argued for the resolution.
“We cannot condone discrimination against human beings,” the Democrat said. “We cannot condone discrimination against some to make others more comfortable.”
The resolution cites the absence of statewide protections of LGBTQ North Carolinians in education, housing, healthcare, public spaces, and in the workplace.
It also cites that many North Carolinians are wrong to believe that LGBTQ persons are not discriminated against. It argues that a Center for American Progress 2020 study found that 1 in 3 LGBTQ persons is discriminated against. 3 in 5 transgender persons face discrimination.
This resolution follows the 2016 battle against the state's anti-transgender Public Facilities and Privacy and Security Act. Colloquially known as HB2, the law restricted transgender persons from using public restrooms that correspond with the gender marked on their birth certificate. However, state law also required proof of gender-affirming surgery before a transgender person can correct their birth certificate.
The law was eventually replaced but lawsuits by conservative organizations like NC Values argued that transgender persons using the restroom of their gender identity were a danger to children.
Last summer, a federal judge agreed on a legal settlement that afforded transgender rights to public accommodations like restrooms.
“No basketball game, corporation or entertainment event is worth even one little girl losing her privacy and dignity to a boy in the locker room or being harmed or frightened in a bathroom,” NC Values responded then.
The latest resolution also mentions the need for non-discrimination based on hairstyles. Metropolitan Charlotte has a significant Black community where this type of discrimination is common.
Mecklenberg County will not discriminate against “natural hairstyles, texture or type associated with race which includes, but not limited to, braids, locks, twists, tight coils or curls, cornrows, bantu knots, and afros,” the resolution states.
The Board of Commissioners vote was unanimous.
The resolution demands that LGBTQ persons are treated with “respect and dignity.” It also asks businesses and organizations to adopt non-discrimination policies for its employees and customers—and for cities and townships to adopt non-discrimination ordinances for themselves.
Commissioner Susan Rodrigues-McDowell argued for the resolution.
“We cannot condone discrimination against human beings,” the Democrat said. “We cannot condone discrimination against some to make others more comfortable.”
The resolution cites the absence of statewide protections of LGBTQ North Carolinians in education, housing, healthcare, public spaces, and in the workplace.
It also cites that many North Carolinians are wrong to believe that LGBTQ persons are not discriminated against. It argues that a Center for American Progress 2020 study found that 1 in 3 LGBTQ persons is discriminated against. 3 in 5 transgender persons face discrimination.
This resolution follows the 2016 battle against the state's anti-transgender Public Facilities and Privacy and Security Act. Colloquially known as HB2, the law restricted transgender persons from using public restrooms that correspond with the gender marked on their birth certificate. However, state law also required proof of gender-affirming surgery before a transgender person can correct their birth certificate.
The law was eventually replaced but lawsuits by conservative organizations like NC Values argued that transgender persons using the restroom of their gender identity were a danger to children.
Last summer, a federal judge agreed on a legal settlement that afforded transgender rights to public accommodations like restrooms.
“No basketball game, corporation or entertainment event is worth even one little girl losing her privacy and dignity to a boy in the locker room or being harmed or frightened in a bathroom,” NC Values responded then.
The latest resolution also mentions the need for non-discrimination based on hairstyles. Metropolitan Charlotte has a significant Black community where this type of discrimination is common.
Mecklenberg County will not discriminate against “natural hairstyles, texture or type associated with race which includes, but not limited to, braids, locks, twists, tight coils or curls, cornrows, bantu knots, and afros,” the resolution states.