Carrboro elected leaders have signed onto an amicus brief filed in a case before the United States Supreme Court over LGBTQ discrimination by a Colorado bake shop.
Mayor Lydia Lavelle signed on with 150 mayors from across the country as part of the Mayors Against LGBT Discrimination. Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger also joined the brief earlier in the week. Lavelle is one of the few openly gay mayors in North Carolina.
Masterpiece Cakeshop is a case pending before the nation’s high court considering a Denver baker who “refused to sell a wedding cake to a same-sex couple, attempting to create a constitutional right to discriminate based on religious grounds,” according to a release from the town.
The owners of the bakery at the center of this case contend they should be exempt from enforcement of the Colorado’s non-discrimination law based on religion or free speech grounds rooted in their religious opposition to same-sex marriage.
“The Town of Carrboro has a history of supporting the LGBT community. By signing on to this brief, we are standing by basic principles of equality – that everyone, no matter their sexual orientation or identity, should be able to receive the same services in public places,” Lavelle said in a release.
Supreme Court justices are scheduled to hear oral arguments in this case on December 5.
Related Stories
‹

Local Officials Denounce Violence Against LGBTQ+ CommunityOn November 14, over 125 elected officials and organizations in North Carolina crafted and signed a statement denouncing violence and hateful rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ community.

Downtown Chapel Hill To Diversify Pride Flags, Will Add Lesbian FlagAt the start of Pride Month, downtown Chapel Hill is decorated with all the colors of the rainbow. Pride flags hang throughout town representing different factions of the LGBTQIA+ community. But, community members noticed the pink, orange, red and white of the lesbian flag is missing.
![]()
Supreme Court Takes Up Cases About LGBT People's RightsThe Supreme Court on Tuesday heard highly anticipated cases on whether federal civil rights law should apply to LGBT people, with Chief Justice John Roberts questioning how doing so would affect employers. In the first of two cases, the justices heard arguments on whether a federal law banning job discrimination on the basis of sex […]
![]()
N. Carolina Governor Moves to Block Conversion Therapy FundsNorth Carolina’s state health department is barred from allowing public funds to pay for conversion therapy for minors, a controversial practice aimed at changing young LGBT people’s sexual orientations, under an order signed Friday by Gov. Roy Cooper. Advocacy groups praised the Democratic governor’s executive order as a pioneering step to restrict the therapy in the U.S. […]
![]()
Big Business to Supreme Court: Defend LGBTQ People from BiasMore than 200 corporations, including many of America’s best-known companies, are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that federal civil rights law bans job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The corporations outlined their stance in a legal brief released Tuesday by a coalition of five LGBTQ rights groups. The […]
![]()
Bills Opposing "Conversion Therapy," HB2 Remnants FiledGay rights advocates and their supporters at the legislature said Thursday that expanding antidiscrimination laws and repealing remnants of the North Carolina “bathroom bill” will make clear that LGBT people in the state aren’t second-class citizens. Democratic lawmakers unveiled three new pieces of House legislation, one of which also would prohibit so-called “conversion therapy” for minors. It […]
![]()
United Methodist Delegates Reject Recognizing Gay MarriageThe United Methodist Church, America’s second-largest Protestant denomination, faces a likely surge in defections and acts of defiance after delegates at a crucial conference voted Tuesday to strengthen the faith’s divisive bans on same-sex marriage and ordination of LGBT clergy. Emotions were high throughout the third and final day of the UMC’s meeting. Some supporters […]

Catholic School Cancels Class Over Protest of Lesbian GuestA Catholic school in North Carolina invited a black lesbian alumna to speak at a Black History Month event, but canceled the event and classes due to threats of protest. The Herald-Sun reports Immaculata Catholic School canceled classes Friday after officials learned “a number of groups” planned to protest the talk by Durham councilwoman Vernetta Alston. Alston […]

Chapel Hill Honoring First Openly Gay Town Council Member with Public Art DedicationChapel Hill will be honoring a trailblazing elected official on Saturday. The town will hold a public art dedication to the first openly gay Town Council member on Saturday. Joe Herzenbger – who is described in a release from the town as the first openly gay elected official in the South – served on the […]
![]()
Carrboro Joins LGBT Discrimination Supreme Court BriefCarrboro elected leaders have signed onto an amicus brief filed in a case before the United States Supreme Court over LGBTQ discrimination by a Colorado bake shop. Mayor Lydia Lavelle signed on with 150 mayors from across the country as part of the Mayors Against LGBT Discrimination. Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger also joined the […]
›