Three North Carolina municipalities
have passed LGBT protections after a moratorium on such ordinances
expired last month.
Hillsborough, Carrboro, and Chapel Hill
approved the ordinances last week, NBC
News reported.
The three bills are similar, providing
protections in the areas of employment and public accommodations.
Republican leaders in 2016 responded to
passage of an LGBT protections ordinance in Charlotte with House Bill
2. The legislation, approved during a one-day special session,
blocked cities and municipalities from enacting such measures and
prohibited transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice
in government buildings and schools.
The backlash to passage of HB2 included
canceled conventions and sports and entertainment venues.
The repeal of HB2 put in place a
statewide moratorium on municipalities passing nondiscrimination
ordinances until December 1, 2020.
Allison Scott, director of policy and
programs at the Campaign for Southern Equality, told NBC News that
the bills were long overdue.
“We've been talking with elected
officials since well before HB2 and trying to get these kinds of
progressive policies passed,” she said. “So to see these actually
coming up to a vote feels amazing.”
While municipalities can begin passing
their own nondiscrimination ordinances, only state lawmakers have the
power to regulate bathrooms, meaning no municipality can approve an
ordinance that allows transgender people to use the bathroom of their
choice.
Republicans currently control both
chambers of the General Assembly, while Governor Roy Cooper is a
Democrat.