LGBT advocates want Charlotte council to revisit nondiscrimination measure

Boosted by the results from the Democratic primary Tuesday, some in the LGBT community said they would like the City Council to reconsider expanding the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance in early 2016.

“We would probably be looking (at a vote) as early as we could,” said Scott Bishop with MeckPAC, an LGBT lobbying group. “There is a learning curve for any of the new council members. But we want it as quickly as we can.”

The March vote on the nondiscrimination ordinance was one of the most controversial decisions council members have made in years. Leading up to the vote, elected officials received 40,000 emails, and 120 people signed up to speak at the meeting.

In the end, a watered-down expansion of the nondiscrimination ordinance failed in a 6-5 vote. Two council members, Democrats John Autry and LaWana Mayfield, voted against the proposal because it didn’t include bathroom flexibility for transgender people.

In the primary, the most important race for the LGBT community was for the four at-large seats.

Three of the four Democrats who won – incumbent Vi Lyles, and James Mitchell and Julie Eiselt – have said they will support expanding the ordinance, including a provision that would allow transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice.

Eiselt said Thursday that she doesn’t know when the ordinance might come before the council, but she would vote for it.

“I will support it,” she said.

The other winner, incumbent Claire Fallon, said Wednesday that she would support the full ordinance if there is a second vote.

MeckPAC, Equality N.C. and the Human Rights Campaign launched an effort to mobilize voters in support of LGBT-friendly candidates. Although one of their endorsed candidates didn’t win the primary, the groups made sure the ordinance was a focal part of the campaign.

Candidates were asked repeatedly at forums and debates whether they would support adding LGBT protections, and most said they would.

“We’re feeling pretty good about it as it stands right now,” Bishop said.

He said the coalition contacted 10,000 voters and did several mailers.

“We had staff on the ground,” Bishop said. “It was a coordinated effort.”

Two at-large council members who had reservations about the ordinance, Democrats David Howard and Michael Barnes, ran for mayor and lost. They will not return to the council, and their departure opened the door for Eiselt and Mitchell.

The Democratic at-large candidates still must win in the general election in November. But Democrats have swept the at-large seats in the last two city elections, and there are only three Republicans running. John Powell, a real estate broker, is the most prominent.

If the Democrats sweep the at-large seats, they could have as many as eight of 11 council members who support expanded the ordinance.

Earlier this year, Fallon said she fully endorsed expanding the nondiscrimination ordinance. But as the vote drew closer, her colleagues on the council believed she would not support the provision that would allow transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice.

Fearing that they no longer had a council majority, that provision was removed. Fallon then voted for the so-called “diluted” ordinance, which would have prohibited businesses from discriminating against gay, lesbian and transgender residents. That proposal would not have included bathroom flexibility for transgender people.

The two Democrats in the runoff for mayor, Mayor Dan Clodfelter and Jennifer Roberts, support the full ordinance.

The Republican mayoral nominee, Edwin Peacock, said Thursday that he would veto the ordinance if it was passed by City Council without first going through a council committee. That process didn’t happen before.

“If the ordinance came before Charlotte City Council again and bypassed committee, I’d veto it,” Peacock said.

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 4:32 PM with the headline "LGBT advocates want Charlotte council to revisit nondiscrimination measure."