North Carolina's Anti-LGBTQ Law HB 2 Set For Repeal! 

December 19, 2016 - North Carolina Governor-Elect Roy Cooper and Governor Pat McCrory have announced a deal, along with the state legislature and city of Charlotte, to repeal HB 2, the state's notorious anti-LGBTQ law. In exchange for Charlotte repealing its nondiscrimination ordinance, the state legislature is expected to repeal HB 2 on Tuesday.

Equality Federation's Senior Director of Programs and North Carolina Resident Ian Palmquist said, "It's long past time for the North Carolina General Assembly to repeal HB2 in full. The entire country has seen the harm this law has caused to LGBTQ North Carolinians and to our state's economy. Our experience here in North Carolina has a clear lesson for lawmakers in other states: legislative attacks on LGBTQ people have serious consequences and will not stand."

Equality Federation member Equality North Carolina and the Human Rights Campaign have lead a remarkable campaign to not only repeal HB 2 but also to show McCrory that there are consequences. Legislatures in Alabama, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, and Washington are planning to consider bills similar to HB 2 in 2017.

"The problem has never been Charlotte. Charlotte's ordinance was a best practice employed in hundreds of cities across the country," said Equality North Carolina Executive Director Chris Sgro. "The Charlotte City Council and mayor did the right thing by passing their ordinance -- HB2 is wrong. Since its passage, the deeply discriminatory HB2 has hurt our economy and people. Now, the General Assembly must fully repeal HB2 so that we can start the necessary talks for protecting LGBTQ people and bring back businesses across the state. We look forward to working with Governor-elect Cooper to win protections community by community and statewide."

For more information or interview requests please contact Mark Daniel Snyder, Director of Communications, mark@equalityfederation.org / 617.416.0552.

Equality Federation is the movement builder and strategic partner to state-based organizations advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people.