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Gay rights advocates question North Carolina’s decision to repeal law protecting LGBT community

Gay-rights advocates say they’ll repeal a law approved by the North Carolina legislature and signed by Gov. Pat McCrory restricting anti-discrimination or...
LGBT rally after NC decision

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Gay-rights advocates say they’ll repeal a law approved by the North Carolina legislature and signed by Gov. Pat McCrory restricting anti-discrimination ordinances by walking the halls of the Legislative Building, fighting in the courts and winning at the ballot box.

At least 400 people gathered at a Raleigh church to rally members of the LGBT community Thursday evening, the day after the legislation passed. Joni Madison with the Human Rights Campaign and other speakers vowed to elect Democrat Roy Cooper over McCrory and kick legislators out of office.

Sarah Preston with the state American Civil Liberties Union announced that groups will go to court “as soon as possible” to challenge the new law. And Chris Sgro with Equality North Carolina said work would continue later this spring to overturn the law at the General Assembly.

The act bars any local laws that would extend anti-discrimination protection to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents and was directed at an ordinance passed by Charlotte set to take effect April 1.

Protester 29-year-old Alex Berkman of Raleigh says the bill was rushed to prevent opposition. He says the law shuts off his path to equal civil rights enjoyed by others.

Corporations are expressing disappointment.

American Airlines operates its second-largest hub in Charlotte. An airline spokeswoman said Thursday that laws allowing discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender customers and employees are bad for the economy. Biotech company Biogen says the law approved Wednesday undermines equality.

The payments processor PayPal said last week it plans to hire 400 employees at a new Charlotte operations center. The California-based company says it’s disappointed by the North Carolina law.

The NCAA says it’s monitoring the situation and takes diversity into account when it chooses its event sites. Men’s college basketball tournament games are planned in Greensboro in 2017 and Charlotte in 2018.

But a spokesman for McCrory says they’ve gotten positive responses from businesses since the bill’s passage.

Ricky Diaz works on McCrory’s re-election campaign. He wrote Thursday evening that many businesses agree with the governor that the Charlotte City Council shouldn’t have made it in an issue in the first place by passing the ordinance last month.

The governor has said city leaders overstepped when they agreed transgender people can use restrooms and locker rooms aligned with their gender identity. McCrory says it threatened the basic privacy the public expects in these facilities. Others argue Charlotte violated the state constitution by passing the ordinance.

 

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