City Council member: HRC ‘hypocritical’ for keeping NC LGBT gala in the state

After nearly a year of supporting boycotts of North Carolina due to House Bill 2, the Washington D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign will keep its state gala in Charlotte.

Republican City Council member Kenny Smith, who opposed the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance that led to HB2, said it’s hypocritical for the HRC to hold a North Carolina state gala in Charlotte. He said the group could have easily held the event in South Carolina, which has no law similar to HB2.

“It’s the height of hypocrisy,” Smith said. “The HRC actively pushed businesses and sports leagues to boycott Charlotte with the intention of creating economic havoc, and yet they aren’t willing to abide those same standards?”

When HB2 was passed by the General Assembly in March, HRC president Chad Griffin said he would put pressure on the Republican leadership in Raleigh by telling conventions, entertainers and other businesses about the negative impacts of the controversial law.

That led to a number of cancellations. The NCAA and ACC have pulled sporting events from the state, entertainers such as Bruce Springsteen have canceled shows and businesses have decided against expanding because of the law.

Some have said the state has lost hundreds of millions in spending because of the cancellations.

The gala is attended by as many as 1,200 people.

Scott Bishop, an activist who helped the city pass its legal protections for the LGBT community, said organizers moved the event from the Charlotte Convention Center because the center is a government-owned building. HB2 said people must use the bathroom that matches their birth certificate in government-owned buildings.

The gala will be held at Le Meridien hotel, an LGBT-friendly hotel. He said organizers never considered moving the event out of state.

Holding the event at Le Meridien can ensure its guests are protected, Bishop said.

He said businesses and organizations that have boycotted N.C. “want to be in places where their guests will be fully protected.”

The gala was held in Raleigh in 2010 and 2011. It’s been in Charlotte for the last five years.

Stephen Peters, a spokesperson for the HRC, defended the decision to keep the event in North Carolina.

“The North Carolina dinner is an event organized by and for North Carolinians to rally as a local community and raise crucial funds in the ongoing fight for LGBTQ equality and the repeal of HB2. This is their home, and these North Carolinians are on the front lines working to repeal HB2 and restore the state’s reputation and economy.”

Smith said he believes it’s because the HRC wanted to host the event in Charlotte because it has a great uptown.

“They could have gone to Fort Mill, but that wouldn’t have been as good,” he said.

Smith said he is happy the HRC is coming to Charlotte and doesn’t want to discourage them from attending. He said he hopes other groups like the NCAA follow the HRC’s lead and hold events in the city.

The gala is scheduled for Feb. 2-5.

The three-day event will include workshops about advancing pro-equality candidates and “how to fight engage others in our fight for equality.” The gala will be held on the night of Feb. 4. Griffin, the HRC president, is scheduled to attend.

This story was originally published January 20, 2017 at 4:53 PM with the headline "City Council member: HRC ‘hypocritical’ for keeping NC LGBT gala in the state."