By Jack Lattimore, Campitor Co-Editor in Chief
As I was thinking of what to write for my final article in this final edition after having worked with Campitor for all four years of high school, my mind immediately turned to the issues about which I care most: those of social justice and inequity. And, when we tend to talk about these problems, we often focus on the national or international problems which continue to plague societies throughout the world. But, instead of those, I wanted to select a disparity that affects the local community in which I have lived for the past seven years and from which I am about to depart with the hope of inspiring those in this community who will be left behind. Deciding which discriminatory law to select presented a significant challenge as unfortunately North Carolina in recent years has created many such policies; however, I eventually selected the law which personally affects me the most: House Bill 2. However, these same concepts apply to other actions taken by the North Carolina government, and I would encourage all of you to carefully examine some of the other problems and apply many of the same steps I propose here in order to create change.
Let me begin by giving some background on the HB2 bill. For those of you who aren’t aware, the HB2 bill came about in response to a proposed Charlotte anti-discrimination law which gave additional protections to people within the LGBTQ+ community. And, rather than this bill setting an exemplar to the rest of the state as a model of inclusivity, it was ruthlessly struck down by the North Carolina government which held an emergency meeting in order to pass House Bill 2: a law which legalizes discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in areas from bathroom usage to employment to business service. Rather than admitting to their bigotry, the state government continues to perpetrate a web of vile lies, mostly centered on how “men” (who are actually transgender male to female women) will infiltrate women’s bathrooms in order to sexually assault young women. Not only does this completely demean the transgender community by labeling people by their wrong gender and, thus invalidating their fundamental identities, but, as I mentioned before, it is completely unsubstantiated. In fact, all the evidence actually indicates that transgender people have far more risk of being sexually assaulted, illustrating how they suffer as victims rather than serving as the root cause of any problem. Yet, in spite of all of this, the government continues to simply neglect the facts in order to support an ideology based on bigotry and hatred.
But, even beyond harming people in the LGBTQ+ community (especially people who identify as transgender and non-binary), this law majorly hinders our state economically. Recent estimates illustrate that the law has already cost the state around $77 million and about 1750 jobs. But, if that is not enough, North Carolina has also risked losing about $4.5 billion in federal funding as this law clearly violates provisions including (but not limited to) Title IX which clearly establishes protections against discrimination based on gender identity. On Monday May 9th, Attorney General Loretta Lynch spoke passionately about the North Carolina bill and about the Department of Justice’s plan to overturn this law and ensure equality for all. In probably the most moving part of the speech, she directly addressed the transgender community:
“Let me also speak directly to the transgender community itself. Some of you have lived freely for decades. Others of you are still wondering how you can possibly live the lives you were born to lead. But no matter how isolated or scared you may feel today, the Department of Justice and the entire Obama Administration wants you to know that we see you; we stand with you; and we will do everything we can to protect you going forward. Please know that history is on your side. This country was founded on a promise of equal rights for all, and we have always managed to move closer to that promise, little by little, one day at a time. It may not be easy – but we’ll get there together.”
The Obama Administration has also sought to bolster the Department of Justice’s actions via its own initiatives. For instance, towards the end of last week, Obama issued a directive for schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms and changing rooms which comply with their gender identity. While some may label this as overstepping boundaries of state independence, I believe do not see it this way as sometimes the federal government has no alternative when states directly violate the principles of equality upon which this county was founded. The federal government acted in this manner and created momentous societal change in the 1950s and 60s Civil Rights Movement, and they must intervene once more if we truly are to move forward and make for a more egalitarian society.
Finally, let me speak on a more personal level as I am a gay person living in North Carolina. Under this law, I could be fired from a job, I could be denied service at any business, I could be refused the opportunity to sue in State Court under discrimination charges. While I am incredibly grateful that none of these have happened to me so far, I am sickened and horrified that they could happen, and, if they did, I would be unable to engage in any legal action. And, for so many others in this state, HB2 has already affected them directly, completely preventing them from living their daily lives. And, unfortunately, when we look at this map of Housing Discrimination from Human Rights Campaign, we can see that while North Carolina may be one of the most egregious, people from all over the United States can suffer from legal discrimination.
On this map, the dark green illustrates states with discrimination laws based on both sexual orientation and gender identity while the light green indicates states with laws solely based on sexual orientation. This means that only 22 states and the District of Columbia have any kind of housing protection policy in place, and maps indicating other forms of protection (such as employment) almost exactly mirror this one. I would unfortunately be very uncomfortable living in any of these places with legalized discrimination, for no matter how supported I may feel in a particular workplace or sub-community, I would always possess a lingering feeling that I am somehow unwelcome or unwanted on the statewide level. For me, this feels like a great shame—that there are so many places in which I feel I cannot live—even though many of them, including North Carolina, are so beautiful in so many other regards. I sincerely hope for change in the next few years, such that when I do eventually search for a place to live and work, I do not feel these restrictions and can be completely secure of support regardless of where I choose.
So, the question becomes what we can do to address this problem. I personally would advocate for a two pronged approach: one part being oriented towards the local community and the other towards larger institutions. The first component begins with self-education – while hopefully this article has given an overview of current LGBTQ+ discrimination in North Carolina, I’d encourage all of you to take a few minutes to learn a little more whether it’s through online research, attending a GSA meeting (even if you’ve never been to one before), or discussing with others (I am also very happy to respond to any questions or comments you may have). And, after you’ve learned more yourself, it’s a matter of spreading that newfound knowledge onto others, especially those who may still have misconceptions about these issues. Talk about this with your family at the dinner table or with your friends at lunch or with peers in group discussions. And eventually, through spreading knowledge and dispelling flawed ideas that people may have, acceptance will gradually begin to grow. While some people may remain resistant to change, you will never know unless you try to take the first step and begin a conversation. With regards to the more institutionally centered approach, again, I’d encourage a smaller start and then working upwards to the government and other larger bodies. For instance, I would encourage all of my fellow seniors to try to make their colleges more inclusive environments through finding out more about the current discrimination which may still exist and then beginning discussions with the administration in order to advocate for change. A prime example of an opportunity for this kind of work is UNC where almost half of my peers will be attending in the fall. Unfortunately, UNC has recently deliberated and is now considering the joining the state lawsuit against the Department of Justice in order to align with state leadership on this issue. I would encourage my peers to serve as advocates on campus and encourage the UNC system to side with the Department of Justice at this historic juncture. With regard to the state level, I believe that what Governor McCrory and other state lawmakers have done transcends partisan politics and crosses the boundary into blatant bigotry and discrimination. Hence, while I will not tell anybody who they should vote for, I would strongly encourage people on both sides of the political spectrum to think carefully about what the current North Carolina government has done and the potential ramifications of reelecting them. For those who are not of voting age, I would strongly encourage all of you to speak to family members who have the ability to vote in addition to signing and sharing petitions which condemn the law.
Yet, as I mentioned before, North Carolina has unfortunately engaged in many discriminatory measures beyond the HB2 law. North Carolina has also limited women’s rights by not only setting the abortion limit at 20 weeks of pregnancy—about 4 to 6 weeks behind most other states—but also via majorly violating privacy concerns in requiring ultrasounds to be sent to the State Health Department for women to have an abortion after 16 weeks of pregnancy. North Carolina has enacted a stringent voter ID law, specifically aimed at preventing racial minorities and young people from their right to vote and partake in the political process as these groups may lack legitimate forms of identification. Governor McCrory and other lawmakers in North Carolina have also spoken on limiting North Carolina’s refugee intake and continue to propose discriminatory bills against refugees such as the latest proposals which limit the kinds of ID forms police departments will accept and require towns to hold public meetings before accepting refugees. So, whether it’s the bills or laws that I’ve mentioned, or the many others which I have not, North Carolina has shown itself time and time again to be on the wrong side of history, to select discrimination over inclusivity, to further subjugate rather than support already disenfranchised groups. However, together we have a very real potential to create change. Regardless of how small you might feel or how much advocacy you have done in the past, it is never too late to begin by starting small and involving more and more others until together all of you have made an impact larger than anyone could have thought possible. I truly believe in this ability to create change and sincerely look forward to the time when I can stand up and say that I am proud to be from a state which accepts all people unconditionally and completely values each person’s individuality.