Campus Pride & LGBTQ Coalition call on Big Business in North Carolina to Oppose Legislature’s Attempt to Repeal Charlotte LGBTQ Nondiscrimination Protections

Charlotte, NC – A coalition of LGBTQ organizations led by Equality North Carolina, Campus Pride, and One Million Kids For Equality is calling on Bank of America, BB&T (Branch Bank & Trust), Burt’s Bees, and it’s parent company Clorox to oppose the North Carolina legislature’s attempt to repeal Charlotte’s recently passed city ordinance that aims to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people from discrimination.

“Campus Pride is the only national LGBTQ youth organization founded and based in the South and we are proud to call Charlotte our home. Big business has a responsibility to stand up and tell the legislature this is wrong and bad for the economy,” said Shane Windmeyer, Executive Director of Campus Pride. “We all must create a fair and inclusive community as a City and the State of North Carolina.”

These new legal protections mean that as of April 1st businesses in Charlotte can’t discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender customers, in addition to long-standing protections based on race, age, religion, and gender. The ordinance applies to places of public accommodation, such as bars, restaurants and stores. It also applies to taxis.

Immediately after the passage of the new city ordinance, many within the North Carolina legislature began advocating for statewide legislative action to block local governments from enacting their own nondiscrimination protections. When North Carolina’s Governor Pat McCrory and Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger announced that they would not convene a special session of the legislature to address new legislation, the legislature took it upon themselves to convene a special session. The special session started today at 10am.

“As three of the largest corporations in North Carolina, all of which proudly protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees through LGBTQ inclusive non-discrimination policies, we believe these corporations have a moral obligation and responsibility to voice their opposition when state legislatures put the communities they serve in danger of discrimination” – Brad Delaney, One Million Kids For Equality

A copy of our joint letters to Bank of America, BB&T, and Burt’s Bees (Clorox) are available here:

http://www.onemillionkids.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/NC-BofA-Letter.pdf

http://www.onemillionkids.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/NC-BBT-Letter.pdf

http://www.onemillionkids.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/NC-Clorox-Letter.pdf

Equality North Carolina is dedicated to securing equal rights and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) North Carolinians. Equality NC is based in Charlotte, NC. For more information, please visit http://equalitync.org

Campus Pride is the leading nonprofit organization for student leaders and campus groups working to create a safer college environment for LGBTQ students. Campus Pride is based in Charlotte, NC. For more information, please visit https://www.campuspride.org

One Million Kids For Equality works to empower youth and their allies around the world to share their stories and create change in legislatures, courts, and most importantly hearts and minds. For more information, please visit http://onemillionkids.org

The Personal Stories Project is a social media based organization that promotes activism, advocacy and support for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender community and our allies through the sharing of personal stories. For more information, please visit http://personalstoriesproject.org

BiNet USA is America’s oldest advocacy organization for bisexual, pansexual, fluid, queer-identified and unlabeled people, BiNet USA facilitates the development of a cohesive network of independent bisexual and bi-friendly communities; promotes bisexual and bi-inclusive visibility; and collects and distributes educational information regarding sexual orientation and gender identity with an emphasis on bisexual, pansexual, fluid, queer (bi+) communities. For more information, please visit http://binetusa.org

Equality Federation is the movement builder and strategic partner to state-based organizations advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. For more information, please visit https://www.equalityfederation.org/