Paige's Open Letter To Charlotte City Council

Was not happy to hear that yesterday the Charlotte City Council, after resisting a so-called 'deal' in September to  repeal their NDO in exchange for the Republican controlled North Carolina legislature subsequently repealing the unjust HB2, the Charlotte City Council on a surprise 10-0 vote threw the Charlotte trans community under the bus and repealed the trans protective NDO as part of a 'deal' brokered by Roy Cooper that allegedly will result in the repeal of the unjust HB2.

Of course I'm pissed about it along with trans folks in Charlotte and North Carolina who don't trust the NC GOP to follow through on their end of it.   But what has them even more incensed is that they weren't consulted, and are livid that the Charlotte City Council would take this step without consulting them.

Local trans leader Paige Dula composed an open letter to the Charlotte City Council that expresses the feeling of trans folks in the Queen City, and I'm posting it as a guest op-ed because the voices of the local trans community needed to be signal boosted.

And now, here's Paige Dula's open letter..

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As a member of the local LGBTQ community I must say I was totally taken aback by the sudden repeal of Charlotte's NDO on the condition of the NCGA lifting HB2. I have been personally contacted by a couple of you privately and I appreciate you reaching out as you have. But I have to ask why didn't you reach out to our community sooner to discuss this course of action? We worked together very hard over several years to make the NDO happen. So many people in the local LGBT community have a LOT of skin in that game. It's not safe or easy to be out as a transgender woman but I and a few others did so the past couple years to put a face to why the protections are important. We sacrificed our personal safety and privacy for the betterment of our whole LGBT community. In one meeting you rendered that as worthless. I understand the state and Charlotte in particular is really taking on the chin financially in the wake of HB2 and the boycotts. But why give in NOW? Why when you said you wouldn't in September?

I've been assured that in the future Charlotte will pass another NDO, once Roy Cooper is in office. The problem is the NCGA still has a Republican super majority that will just be able to do a repeat of HB2. That is, unless Charlotte passes an NDO the NCGA finds palatable. That would entail stripping transgender protections in the public accommodations area. That would be unacceptable as that is the area where transgender people experience the most harassment and discrimination.

The other option would be to hope the redistricting and subsequent re-election of the NCGA next year results in there no longer being a republican super majority and a fully inclusive NDO could go in and stand unchallenged at least as long as we have a Democratic governor. In that case we have at minimum a year before a new ordinance can go in. And let me tell you that at least for the Trans community the incidences of harassment have done nothing but increase thanks to HB2 and the Trump campaign. Bigots feel emboldened now and we need protection now more than ever. Next year transgender people are likely to lose a ton of protections that Obama put in place for us: Affordable Care Act requiring medical treatment for Trans patients... GONE, Title IX protections for Trans students... GONE, DOJ case against HB2... GONE, transgender people serving openly in the military... GONE.

So pardon me if I don't have a lot of trust that you all are doing what is best for me, my community, Charlotte, and NC. What good is a government who doesn't stand beside the least of their constituents? We fought hard to make sure you were elected because we were assured you had our backs. All I see now is your back turned against us.

Hey Caitlyn, You Still Supporting Trump and the Transphobic GOP?

As y'all know, after giving Caitlyn Jenner time after her transition to try and fail to find a voice we could be proud of in our community as an advocate, I finally had enough of the numerous faux pas and ridiculous statements and called her out.

One of the statements out of her mouth that was ridiculous on its face was initially claiming that Republicans were leaders when it came to trans human rights at a time when they were legislatively attacking us in South Dakota and North Carolina and several other GOP controlled states.

She also claimed back in June that Donald Trump is a champion for women and LGBT people.  Yeah, right.  Donald's a champion groper and pervert

Oh the Republicans are leaders all right.  Leaders when it comes to oppressing trans people.  

See my lieutenant governor Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, Caitlyn's fave senator Ted Cruz and right wing state and federal judges like Reed O'Connor for concrete example of being trans oppressors instead of trans human rights trailblazers like President Obama and soon to be POTUS Hillary Clinton.

Well, the reason I'm bringing Caitlyn's comments up again is that the North Carolina gubernatorial debate was held Monday night, and guess whose name came up in the debate discussion about Hate Bill 2?

And who said on stage that you needed to use the men's bathroom?   It sure wasn't Roy Cooper, the Democratic candidate for governor and the one who refused to defend as North Carolina's attorney general that unjust law.

It was that trans oppressor Gov Pat McCrory (R)



And what has been Caitlyn's response so far?

I hope you are waking up from the pink fog you're in and realizing that the party you wanted to be a 'trans ambassador' for has enshrined hatred of trans people in their 2016 platform.

I still have to ask since woke transpeople don't let friends vote GOP, if you are still supporting the anti-trans GOP presidential ticket and anti-trans Republicans?

Inquiring minds wanna know.

Atlantic Coast Conference Pulls All ACC Championship Events From NC

While the North Carolina Republicans and the state's conservafools continue their media spin with the goal of justifying discrimination and oppression of LGBT North Carolinians and do nothing about it, the economic fallout continues in the wake of the North Carolina GOP led passage of the unjust HB2 and their obstinate refusal to repeal it despite the massive damage it is causing to the state's economy.

Today the Atlantic Coast Conference Council of Presidents followed the lead of the NCAA and pulled all ACC championship events from the state effective this academic year until HB2 is repealed.

"As members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the ACC Council of Presidents reaffirmed our collective commitment to uphold the values of equality, diversity, inclusion and nondiscrimination.

 Every one of our 15 universities is strongly committed to these values and therefore, we will continue to host ACC championships at campus sites.   We believe North Carolina House Bill 2 is inconsistent with these values, and as a result, we will relocate all neutral site championships for the 2016-17 academic year.  All locations will be announced in the future from the conference office."    

The Atlantic Coast Conference is based in Greensboro, NC, so this definitely stings in the wake of the NCAA action on Monday.

The ACC announcement also ;means that Charlotte just lost the ACC Championship Game that was scheduled to be played at Bank of America Stadium December 3.  The game had been under contract to be held in Charlotte until 2019, and the 2015 ACC title game is estimated to have a $32.4 million economic impact for the local economy.

And don't look now Charlotte, but the CIAA, the oldest African-American athletic conference in the nation is considering moving its basketball tournament that has been hosted in the Queen City since 2006

The CIAA tournament has an estimated economic impact of $55.6 million, so losing that tournament would be another body blow to the North Carolina economy.

You can gripe all you want about it, but the reality is that bigotry costs you money, NC GOP and Governor McCrory, and you did it to yourselves.

You can either continue down the path of obstinately defend the indefensible HB2, or you can call a special session just like you did to speedily enact HB2.  

You are not going to get enough right wing conventions to come to the state to make up the millions you've already lost since your idiotic passage of HB2.

The special session to repeal it will cost you much less money than all the business you have lost since your misguided passage of Hate Bill 2, as the Rev Dr. William Barber II calls it and I concur with that assessment.

The choice is clear North Carolina GOP.  You can continue down the bigoted Tobacco Road, or you can take the first steps to be on the correct side of human rights history.

TransGriot Update:  This is the list of 10 ACC neutral site championships that will no longer be held in North Carolina.

Women’s soccer: November 4-6 in Cary, NC at WakeMed Soccer Park

Football: December 3, at Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium

Men’s swimming and diving: February 15-18 at Greensboro Aquatic Center

Women’s swimming and diving: February 22-25 at Greensboro Aquatic Center

Women’s basketball: March 1-5 at Greensboro Coliseum

Men’s and women’s tennis: April 26-30 at Cary Tennis Park

Women’s golf: April 21-23 at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro

Men’s golf: April 21-23 at the Old North State Club in New London, NC

Baseball: May 23-28, at Durham Bulls Athletic Park

I repeat, bigotry costs you money.

NCAA Pulls Seven Championship Events From North Carolina Over HB2

If the North Carolina GOP and conservafool movement thought the NCAA was bluffing about pulling championship events from the state over the unjust HB2 law, the NCAA just sent the message they weren't kidding.

The NCAA recently passed a rule in April which states they will not hold any of their championship events in a city without human rights laws as part of the NCAA's commitment to have an inclusive environment for collegiate student-athletes, coaches, administrators and fans.

As part of that commitment and the new bid policy, the NCAA announced yesterday they were pulling seven championship events from the state and relocating them to other locales because of the unjust law.

The NCAA will decide in December who will host those events removed from North Carolina for their lack of human rights vision,

Are you paying attention Dan Patrick, Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton?   San Antonio is slated to host the NCAA Final Four in 2018. If you Texas GOP fools try to pass either an HB2 style law or an anti-trans statewide law in the upcoming legislative session due to start in January, Texas can say goodbye to that Final Four and any future NCAA championship events.

The NCAA championship events relocated from North Carolina include:

 

*The 2016 Division I Women's Soccer Championship College Cup in Cary, NC December 2 and 4
* The 2016 Division III Men's and Women's Soccer Championships in Greensboro, NC December 2-3
*The 2017 Division 1 Men's Basketball Championship First/Second rounds in Greensboro March 17 and 19
*The 2017 Division 1 Women's Golf Championships regional in Greenville, May 8-10
*The 2017 Division III Men's and Women's Tennis Championships in Cary May 22-27
*The 2017 Division  I Women's Lacrosse Championships in Cary May 26 and 28
*The 2017 Division II Baseball Championship in Cary May 27-June 3

Bigotry costs you money.  Too bad the people of North Carolina are being made to suffer because of the lack of human rights vision of a Republican Party that seeks to dehumanize and oppress their fellow North Carolinians for their own political gain.

You have a chance to correct that 2012 and 2014 mistake in putting the GOP in power on November 8 by voting out the politicians responsible for this mess.

Jillian Weiss Appearing Again On CNN Legal View

I guess CNN loves Dr. Jillian Weiss as much as I and the trans community does.

After her May 9 appearance on Legal View With Ashleigh Banfield to discuss the legal issues surrounding HB 2, Dr Weiss will be back on CNN again at 12 noon EDT/11 AM CDT to discuss not only HB 2, but the recent declaration by the DOJ that they will do everything possible to protect trans people and today's Department of Education decree..

Should be an interesting and informative discussion from one of our community's wonderful attorneys.  If you want to hear how this affect us trans folks legally from someone who has tried and won trans civil rights cases, then you need to tune in if possible..  

Once CNN posts the video from this latest conversation, I'll post it on the blog.,