Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger is worried that House Bill 2 will undo a lot of the protections the town has worked to create against discrimination and believes the new law goes against what Chapel Hill is about.
“It’s just disheartening that we keep getting more and more kinds of this legislation but know that your local leaders don’t subscribe to this. We are going to do everything in our power to figure out how we work around this mandate to make sure our citizens and people who come to visit us, feel safe, feel secure, feel welcomed and included,” said Hemminger.
Hemminger spoke Thursday with WCHL’s Aaron Keck.
Governor Pat McCrory signed a bill into law Wednesday night that revokes protections for transgender people and restricts the ability of local governments to create their own nondiscrimination ordinances.
Lawmakers in Raleigh held a special session to pass the bill, which was in response to a Charlotte ordinance that allowed transgender individuals to use the restroom of their gender identity rather than their biological sex.
Critics of the Charlotte ordinance said that it could be used as a legal defense for sexual predators to enter bathrooms of the opposite sex, something NC House Representative Graig Meyer disputes.
“The sweeping nature of this bill shows that the Republican party used a pretext based on some stereotypes and some fear to do something that is really much, much broader discrimination,” said Meyer.
The House passed the bill 84- 26; Meyer was one of the dissenting votes. He thinks this bill is emblematic of a large challenge in our state.
“This is part of an ongoing battle going on in North Carolina, really for the values that we want to build the state around,” said Meyer.
Meyer spoke with Aaron Keck on Thursday.
Meyer said that the new law will repeal an Orange County ordinance that prevents discrimination on the basis of veteran status or family status.
Both Meyer and Hemmiger urged people to vote in November for a change of leadership in Raleigh.
House Bill 2 also prevents local governments from enacting policies that concern compensation of employees, such as a living wage ordinance.
UNC Chancellor Carol Folt said she still needs to learn more about the law but the university’s goals would stay the same.
“Our spirit is for inclusivity and meeting needs and doing it in a way that has been very successful here and that’s what we will be doing our homework and trying to understand [the bill] and continue to meet the needs of people that come to the campus,” said Folt.
Many major businesses and corporations have also spoken out against the new law.
The Carrboro Board of Aldermen will hold a special session on Saturday afternoon to consider a resolution concerning the bill.
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