Its time for Charlotte to protect the LGBTQ community

With a new year upon us, we have the opportunity to make Charlotte – and all of North Carolina – a more welcoming, inclusive, and safe place for all.

It’s time to rebuild from the harm caused over the past five years, ever since House Bill 2 (HB2), the so-called “bathroom bill,” was signed into law targeting LGBTQ people – and especially transgender people. Its “compromise” repeal came in the form of HB142, a new law that doubled down on some of HB2’s most restrictive discriminatory measures, including prohibiting municipalities from passing LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances.

In December, a key provision of that law expired. Cities like Charlotte are now free to pass laws that protect our LGBTQ residents. In just the past few weeks we’ve seen exciting momentum, with six different nondiscrimination ordinances passed, including in Durham, Greensboro, and Chapel Hill. It’s time for Charlotte to join them. Let’s establish concrete protections, signal that we are open for business and make clear that we value and respect each and every person who calls the Queen City home.

As president of the Charlotte Pride board of directors, I know firsthand just how critical LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination laws are – just how harmful it can be when these laws don’t exist and, worse yet, when laws like HB2 and HB142 stifle local protections. That’s why there is an urgent need for Congress to act and pass full federal nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people.

As I have worked alongside my Pride Movement counterparts across the nation and world, I hear one common question over and over again: “Is it safe for me to travel to Charlotte?”

It was a question our organization had to repeatedly answer when we planned to host a conference of more than 200 Pride organizers from across the eastern U.S. seaboard, Europe, and elsewhere. And it is a question we often receive from out-of-state travelers who seek to come to the annual Charlotte Pride Festival & Parade – the city’s largest annual parade, which generates $7.75 million in economic impact and the largest LGBTQ event of its kind in our entire region.

Passing LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination laws, however, aren’t just good for business and the local economy. They are, quite simply, just the right thing to do.

While tourists may feel unsafe visiting and investing in Charlotte, the nearly 100,000 or more LGBTQ people who live in the metro area are left vulnerable in our daily lives. We can be refused service at restaurants and stores, turned away from healthcare providers, and refused housing, all on account of our sexual orientation or gender identity. My staff hears these stories every day, especially throughout the pandemic. A sizeable portion of our COVID Relief Program grant recipients are Black and Brown transgender and queer people, and many have faced discrimination in housing and employment.

The lack of protections at the state and federal levels means LGBTQ people in Charlotte have no recourse when we face discrimination. It falls on our city’s leaders to do the right thing by passing commonsense nondiscrimination laws that have been adopted without controversy in 21 states and more than 300 municipalities. In neighboring South Carolina, cities like Columbia, Charleston, and Myrtle Beach have passed LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination laws.

It’s not just city leaders across the country who support these protections. A supermajority of North Carolinians from all walks of life do, too, with 67% of people in our state supporting nondiscrimination protections, according to a 2019 Public Religion Research Institute poll.

As Charlotte has grown, the city has worked tirelessly to build a reputation as a forward-thinking, welcoming, and inclusive community. Our leaders built upon that work with efforts to protect LGBTQ residents in 2016. Now, we can do it again, and in turn start the process of rebuilding our reputation as a city that truly embraces and supports all our residents.

More important than our reputation, though, are the very real lives and experiences of LGBTQ Charlotteans. We expect our local elected leaders to provide our community with full legal protections and pass a local nondiscrimination ordinance that we all deserve. It’s time.