NASW-NC Supports Broad Protections for LGBTQ+ People in North Carolina

Yesterday, a group of lawmakers in North Carolina introduced four bills aimed at providing broad protections for LGBTQ+ people in the state.Thank you to Equality NC for leading the efforts to introduce and re-introduce these important bills.

SB 398  (= HB  518) Equality For All would prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ+ North Carolinians on a number of fronts, including employment, housing, and education.

• Despite the Supreme Court ruling that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and transgender status in employment is illegal, LGBTQ+ workers are still vulnerable to discrimination in certain contexts. The ruling does not extend to small businesses, and also leave informal workers and independent contractors vulnerable to discrimination.

• In addition, the ruling does not explicitly or immediately protect LGBTQ people in housing, healthcare, or public accommodations.

• Local governments have an important role in enacting protections for those workers.

• LGBTQ people need to be protected from discrimination in every area of life under local policies, state law and federal law.

SB 399  (= HB  519) Mental Health Protection Act would ban conversion therapy among minors and disabled adults. NASW-NC supported this bill in 2019. NASW-NC Executive Director Valerie Arendt spoke in favor of this bill at the legislative press conference yesterday. Read more here about NASW-NC's support on banning conversion therapy.

SB 402  (= HB  356) Ensure Same-Sex Domestic Violence Prot. Order. This would ensure that those in same-sex couples are guaranteed protections from domestic violence. This would be an important step in ensuring the safety of the LGBTQ+ community and helping victims of domestic violence access critically needed services and protections.

SB 402  (= HB  356) Full Repeal of HB2 would fully repeal the controversial anti-trans bathroom bill known as House Bill 2. Bathroom bans continue to be introduced across the country. Anti-LGBT opponents are using false and misguided fears about safety and privacy in bathrooms to defeat nondiscrimination protections and to restrict transgender people’s access to restrooms. Bathroom bans are harmful and unnecessary, and HB2 should be fully repealed.

Please contact your legislators and ask them to pass these bills out of Rules committee: https://www.ncleg.gov/FindYourLegislators

NASW-NC Opposes the Following Bills:

On Wednesday, 4/5, the Republican-led NCGA introduced five harmful bills targeting trans youth. Kendra R. Johnson, executive director of Equality NC, said the health care bills will prevent parents from making decisions on their child’s healthcare. Johnson said the bills are harmful and life-threatening. “These bills do nothing to address the real issues facing our youth, like gun violence in schools or the mental health crisis, Johnson said in a statement. “Instead of working to make schools safe environments, our lawmakers are bullying queer and trans kids.” 

The Bills are:

• SB 560: Medical Treatment for Minors Act; would establish governing provisions for the treatment of gender dysphoria for persons under eighteen. NASW-NC Opposes

• SB 631: Fairness in Women’s Sports Act; would require each team player to be designated by the biological sex of the team participants as one of the following males, mens, or boys, females, women, or girls, or coed or mixed. NASW-NC Opposes

• SB 636: The Sports Transparency Act states athletic eligibility will be based on “biological participation requirements”. NASW-NC Opposes

• SB 639: Youth Health Protection Act; an act to protect minors from the administration of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones and other related actions, procedures, and treatments. NASW-NC Opposes

• SB 641: Medical Ethics Defense Act; allows a medical practitioner, health care institution, or health  care payer “not to participate in or pay for any health care services which violate his, her, or its conscience. NASW-NC Opposes

NASW-NC Executive Director Valerie Arendt said, “Despite increased public awareness, transgender people face severe levels of social judgment, stigma, verbal harassment, and physical violence. Many transgender children and youth face harassment and violence in school environments, and those who do not feel safe or valued at school cannot reach their potential. We know that after passage of HB2 restricting transgender students’ access to facilities, calls to the Trans Suicide Prevention Lifeline doubled. This law would be detrimental to the transgender individuals of North Carolina.”