Monday, March 28, 2016

RIGHTS AT STAKE - Most Anti-LGBT Law in U.S.

"How North Carolina signed a bill dubbed the most anti-LGBT law in the U.S." PBS NewsHour 3/24/2016

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  A new North Carolina law restricts protections for gay, lesbian and transgender people by repealing a city ordinance that would allow inclusive bathrooms.  In addition, the law bars any city from passing anti-discrimination legislation.  John Yang explores the implications with Dominic Holden of Buzzfeed News and Loretta Boniti of Time Warner Cable News.

JOHN YANG (NewsHour):  Senate Democrats walked out in protest, leaving their empty chairs.

MAN:  Thirty-two having voted in the affirmative and zero in the negative, House Bill 2 passes.

JOHN YANG:  The vote repealed a new ordinance in Charlotte, North Carolina, that expanded protections for LGBTQ people, including letting transgender people choose which bathroom to use.  The new state law goes even further, barring any city from passing anti-discrimination laws in the future.

Lawmakers heard testimony on both sides.

SARAH PRESTON, ACLU of North Carolina:  Half of the transgender individuals surveyed in North Carolina recently reported being harassed in public accommodations.

CHLOE JEFFERSON, Student:  What about my rights to privacy and wishes not to be exposed to young males changing and showering beside me?

JOHN YANG:  Late Wednesday night, Republican Governor Pat McCrory signed it into law, saying in a statement that Charlotte violated “the basic expectation of privacy in the most personal of settings, a restroom or locker room.”

He accused the leaders of the state’s largest city of government overreach and intrusion.

Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts, a Democrat, fired back.

MAYOR JENNIFER ROBERTS (D), Charlotte, NC:  This legislation is literally the most anti-LGBT legislation in the country.  And it does this not just in Charlotte, but all across our state.

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