HRC pulls award for Charlotte City Council after officials rescind LGBT ordinance

The Human Rights Campaign had planned to honor the Charlotte City Council at an event in February for its work in passing a nondiscrimination ordinance that extended legal protections to the LGBT community.

But council members in December rescinded that ordinance in hopes that the General Assembly would repeal House Bill 2.

In the end, legislators voted against repealing HB2. That law pre-empted the Charlotte ordinance and requires people in government facilities to use bathrooms that match the gender on their birth certificates.

And now the Washington D.C.-based HRC, an LGBT advocacy group, has withdrawn its award for the council.

In a statement released to the Observer Wednesday, the HRC said, “We greatly appreciate the Charlotte City Council’s continued efforts working to ensure LGBTQ people in Charlotte are protected from unfair and unjust discrimination. While plans were in place to honor the council for passing the local LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination ordinance, because these important protections have yet to be achieved and are not in place, our local leadership believed it would be premature to present the award.”

The change was first noted by Q Notes.

The city is still hopeful about a compromise with legislative leaders. Some council members had talked about whether the city should reinstate its ordinance after the General Assembly failed to repeal HB2. But a number of council members have said they believe that would be counter-productive.

The HRC is holding a gala Feb. 4 at Le Meridian hotel in uptown.

This story was originally published January 18, 2017 at 6:48 PM with the headline "HRC pulls award for Charlotte City Council after officials rescind LGBT ordinance."