Carrboro has always been on the forefront of defending the rights of the LGBT community.
And their response to House Bill 2 is no different. Only a few days after the bill was passed, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen passed a resolution calling for its repeal. Damon Seils is a member of the Carrboro Board of Aldermen.
“Carrboro’s history on leading on issues of LGBT rights has certainly put us in the spotlight once again,” said Seils. “People look to Carrboro and some of our other communities who have led on this issue to be among the first to speak out and that’s one of the reasons we felt it was important for us to come out of the gates early on House Bill 2.”
Mayor Lydia Lavelle said they wrote the resolution so that other towns could use it as a model.
The Asheville City Council did just that, adopting a similar resolution earlier this week, using some of the same language as the Carrboro resolution.
Chapel Hill, Hillsborough and Orange County have all adopted similar resolutions.
“We got nothing but positive feedback about that, both from our own community members and from members of other local communities,” said Seils.
The resolutions are a town or city’s way of making their views on the bill known but Seils sees it as an important way to show solidarity with their citizens.
“I think what citizens from the local level are taking from it is that, I guess gratification or satisfaction I hope, in that their locally elected bodies are reflecting the will of the communities that they are serving,” said Seils.
Governor Pat McCrory issued an executive order on Tuesday calling for legislation to reinstate the right to sue in state court for discrimination and expand the state’s employment policy to cover sexual orientation and gender identity. Seils thinks it is a response to public pressure.
“We are seeing pressure on this coming from all quarters, not only from town halls and city halls but also from the streets and from the business community, and I think that pressure needs to continue,” said Seils. “It’s clearly having at least some affect on Governor McCrory.”
McCrory’s executive order only modifies the discrimination policy for state employees and Seils said it isn’t clear if this is within McCrory’s powers.
The passing of House Bill 2 has led companies to pull out of the state, most notably PayPal who pulled out of a Charlotte expansion that would have provided over 400 jobs.
The ACLU of North Carolina and Equality NC have also filed a lawsuit against the bill in federal court.
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