Three North Carolina Cities OK LGBT Protections After Moratorium Expires
- By
- Carlos Santoscoy
- | January 19, 2021
Three North Carolina municipalities have passed LGBT protections after a moratorium on such ordinances expired last month.
Hillsborough, Carrboro, and Chapel Hill approved the ordinances last week, NBC News reported.
The three bills are similar, providing protections in the areas of employment and public accommodations.
Republican leaders in 2016 responded to passage of an LGBT protections ordinance in Charlotte with House Bill 2. The legislation, approved during a one-day special session, blocked cities and municipalities from enacting such measures and prohibited transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice in government buildings and schools.
The backlash to passage of HB2 included canceled conventions and sports and entertainment venues.
The repeal of HB2 put in place a statewide moratorium on municipalities passing nondiscrimination ordinances until December 1, 2020.
Allison Scott, director of policy and programs at the Campaign for Southern Equality, told NBC News that the bills were long overdue.
“We've been talking with elected officials since well before HB2 and trying to get these kinds of progressive policies passed,” she said. “So to see these actually coming up to a vote feels amazing.”
While municipalities can begin passing their own nondiscrimination ordinances, only state lawmakers have the power to regulate bathrooms, meaning no municipality can approve an ordinance that allows transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice.
Republicans currently control both chambers of the General Assembly, while Governor Roy Cooper is a Democrat.