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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A week from Monday, City Council will vote on whether to add more protected classes to the city’s existing non-discrimination ordinance. The spokesman for a group called “Don’t Do It Charlotte” tells WCCB Charlotte that so far, more than 2,000 people have signed a petition against the additional language. That language would allow members of the LGBT community to use public accommodations like restaurants, parks or restrooms, without discrimination. That means transgender men and women could use the restroom they identify with. The bathroom part has been highlighted by elected leaders and other media coverage.
But the proposal has two other key elements that have nothing to do with bathrooms: one would prohibit taxi cab companies and drivers from refusing service to an LGBT person. The other would prohibit city contractors from discriminating against vendors, suppliers, subcontractors or commercial customers.Β
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WCCB Charlotte asked transgender activist Paige Dula and petition supporter Dr. Michael Brown for their perspective on the proposal. Here, they respond to the bathroom element: “It’s being portrayed correctly, people need to know there’s a whole agenda behind this, the bill is unnecessary, it will impose hardships on others. There’s no need for it,” says Brown.
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Dula says, “Just last year at CPCC, Andrea Williams was harassed by security guards there for using the woman’s restroom and she’s a transgender woman.”Β
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Brown says the ordinance would impose the “struggles of a few on everyone.” He says, “It’s actually a discrimination bill that will discriminate against Christians and people of conservative moral values.”Β
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Dula says the beefed up ordinance allows Charlotte to keep up with peer cities across the country. She says, “These have been in place for years. In Minneapolis, they passed an ordinance back in 1975, so they’ve been in place for a long time.”Β
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Dula tells WCCB Charlotte LGBT leaders have met individually with council members and she believes the proposal will pass. Supporters and critics will rally at the Government Center before council votes March 2.
