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Why Charlotte City Council repealed its nondiscrimination ordinance, and what’s next for HB2

By Corey Inscoe

If you thought politicians around the state would be easing into a holiday break this week, you’d be wrong.

In a surprise move Monday morning, Charlotte City Council voted 10-0 to repeal the LGBT nondiscrimination ordinance it passed earlier this year — the ordinance that prompted the state legislature to pass House Bill 2.

In response, Gov. Pat McCrory called for a special session for Wednesday to consider repeal of HB2. Will it happen? We’ll see. But first, here’s a quick look at how we got here and what’s next:

Go back: What’s the nondiscrimination ordinance? And what’s HB2?

Back in February, the City Council voted 7-4 to expand the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance to include legal protections for gay, lesbian and transgender people. The most controversial part of it all was a provision that said transgender residents could choose to use the men’s or the women’s bathroom, depending on the gender with which they identify.

Before the vote, some in the state government threatened to undo the ordinance if it passed, and followed through by passing House Bill 2 during a one-day special session in March. The law eliminated the Charlotte ordinance, and also nullified local ordinances around the state, among other things.

OK. So what was the reaction?

In short: A lot of things decided to leave N.C., or never come in the first place. Some of the biggest for Charlotte: A planned PayPal expansion was canceled, the 2017 NBA All-Star Game moved to New Orleans, and the 2016 ACC Football Championship moved to Orlando because of HB2. All this prompted a lot of people to call for HB2 to be repealed.

Did the state try to make a deal with Charlotte to repeal HB2 before?

Yes, in May and September. But Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts said in September repealing the ordinance was off the table — “at least for now,” according to the Observer story. Democrats said they wouldn’t negotiate away LGBT rights. Republicans accused city leaders of playing politics. “The first step for anything is that the Charlotte City Council, which started all of this, has to at least acknowledge and rescind what they did,” said House Speaker Tim Moore. “And frankly, the mayor of Charlotte could care less what happens with sports.”

So what changed?

Great question. For one, Democrat Roy Cooper won the governor’s race and will be in office in January. He claims that he was able to work out a deal with GOP leaders and also lobbied the council to repeal the ordinance late into Sunday night. Basically, he sees this as the best chance to get HB2 repealed, and it seems like the council agreed. Council members said they felt like this deal was more concrete than any of the previous ones.

“Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore assured me that as a result of Charlotte’s vote, a special session will be called for Tuesday to repeal HB2 in full,” Cooper said in a statement. “I hope they will keep their word to me and with the help of Democrats in the legislature, HB2 will be repealed in full.”

This again prompted Republican leaders to claim the Democrats and Charlotte City Council were playing politics.

“This sudden reversal, with little notice after the gubernatorial election has ended, sadly proves this entire issue, originated by the political left, was all about politics at the expense of Charlotte and the entire state of North Carolina,” Gov. Pat McCrory said in a video statement.

So what’s next?

The special session to consider a repeal of HB2 is set to start Wednesday. We’ll see if the legislature follows through and actually repeals it. But as part of the repeal, the council said that the nondiscrimination ordinance will be revived if the legislature doesn’t repeal HB2 by Dec. 31.

If HB2 is repealed, things will basically go back to how they were before the Charlotte nondiscrimination ordinance was passed earlier this year, which some business leaders are calling a welcome “reset.”

The repeal of the LGBT nondiscrimination ordinance is largely symbolic at this point, since HB2 already nullified it, but for some in the LGBT community, repealing the ordinance will feel like a step back. Previously, many in the community urged the city not to repeal it, but now some, like the Human Rights Campaign, support the move.

“HB2 is precisely why North Carolinians went to the polls and ousted Gov. McCrory last month,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “It’s time for state lawmakers to repeal HB2 and begin repairing the harm this bill has done to people and the damage it has done to North Carolina’s reputation and economy.”

So that’s it?

This probably won’t be the last time you hear about an LGBT nondiscrimination ordinance in Charlotte. Council Member Vi Lyles said members would try to pass some LGBT protections next year. But if those protections include allowing transgender people to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity, expect the state to come out fighting again.

And expect this to be an issue in the 2017 mayoral election. Roberts is already seeing challengers from both sides — Democrats Lyles and State Sen. Joe Ford, and Republican Kenny Smith. Expect them to bring this up next year.

Want to learn more? Follow any of the links in this article for deeper coverage, and read the Observer’s story about the repeal here.

Photo: Davie Hinshaw

This story was originally published December 19, 2016 at 11:02 PM with the headline "Why Charlotte City Council repealed its nondiscrimination ordinance, and what’s next for HB2."

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