Anti-LGBT law protesters: 'Full of resolve' and love
ASHEVILLE - Protesters that packed the city's center Thursday evening said they were angry, shocked and embarrassed over a new anti-LGBT law in North Carolina that critics say is the most sweeping in the nation.
But speakers and attendees also said they were determined to find a way to override House Bill 2, which speedily passed the Republican-controlled General Assembly in a specially called Wednesday legislative session in Raleigh.
"I’m angry. I’m mad as hell. I’m heartbroken," said speaker the Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, director of the Asheville-based LGBT advocacy group Campaign for Southern Equality which spearheaded the protest.
"And I am also full of resolve. I know the resilience in our community," said Beach-Ferrara, who is expected to be Buncombe County's first gay commissioner after winning a March 15 Democratic primary.
Between 250-300 people turned out at a quickly organized rally in Pack Square that started at 5 p.m. The crowd continued to grow despite blustery winds and threatening clouds.
Anger, love
Stephanie Freeman, 25, of Shiloh came with her mother Debbie, 60.
“Being of a queer sexuality myself this really, really hits home for me. They are using what they say is religious liberty to discriminate against people for no reason at all,” Stephanie Freeman said.
She said that transgender people already have a high rate of suicide and the new law “marginalizes and demonizes them for being what they are.”
“This angers me so much, and that is why I had to be here.”
Despite the anger and despair expressed by some, the crowd was also festive, sporting bright colors, waving rainbow flags and using a noisemaker to signal approval and get attention from passing pedestrians and motorists, many of whom honked in approval.
One attendee, Lia Kaz of Asheville, was handing out small slips of paper with the words "I love you" handwritten in red ink.
Asked why she was doing it, Kaz said, "Because I love you. That's what we're here for, right?"
Charlotte bathrooms, Asheville balks
The new law was a reaction to a Charlotte ordinance that had been due to take effect April 1 that would have prevented discrimination in public accommodations by sexual orientation or sexual identification. Critics worried the change would have allowed men to enter women's restrooms by claiming they are transgender, and that scenario was a major point of debate in the General Assembly. The resulting legislation affected any LGBT anti-discrimination ordinance in all of the state's towns, cities or counties, making the local rules null and void.
Supporters of the Charlotte rule said bathroom choice was an issue of safety and that restrooms are often a place transgender people experience violence.
Asheville is a hotbed of LGBT activism, with the Campaign for Southern Equality playing a role in the Supreme Court decision overturning gay marriage bans. A rainbow banner flew from City Hall after a federal pro-gay marriage decision. The county has the highest proportion of same-sex couples in the state and the 20th most in the nation. But local laws, such as Charlotte's, haven't gained traction.
Prior to the state law, on March 8, Asheville City Council members declined to take up a Charlotte-style anti-discrimination ordinance, which had already drawn much attention and the ire of legislators who were threatening a special session. Council members said Charlotte was making a change to a prior anti-discrimination ordinance that left out bathrooms. Asheville didn't need such a fix, they said.
After her primary win, Beach-Ferrara said she wanted to introduce such an ordinance for the county, which has seen deep divides over issues such as gay marriage. Immediate and full support came from only one Democrat on the seven-member board of commissioners. All three Republicans were opposed.
The rally began with singer Kat Williams, an Asheville musical icon, whose song featured lyrics, such as "I'm going to keep on walking, keep on walking" and "ain't going to let discrimination turn me 'round."
Williams was the subject of a widely-noted sexual orientation controversy this month after the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte dumped her from its Gala For Hope fundraiser because she's gay and was previously married to a woman.
Most 'extreme' law in country
Speaker Brynn Estelle with the transgender support group Tranzmission called the legislation "the most far-reaching and extreme anti-LGBT legislation in the country."
She emphasized the bathroom issue as one of safety. One in 300 Americans are transgender, she said, and the murders of transgender women were on the rise with 13 reported in 2014 and 22 in 2015. She noted the stance of one local Republican candidate that guns should be carried in restrooms to protect against the potential of sexual predators.
"This legislation is merely a natural continuation of that same violent and dangerous rhetoric."
Speaker Ivy Hill, an LGBT rights specialist with the Campaign for Southern Equality, said it was important "to let trans youth across the state of North Carolina know that they are not alone, and that we have their backs."
Hill said that CSE and Tranzmission were distributing free "all-gender" restroom signs to any Asheville business, organization or faith group that wants them.
"Talk to the folks at businesses you frequent and ask them to change their restroom signs. All they have to do is send us an e-mail and we'll hand deliver all-gender restroom signs to their front door with a smile and a thank you."
Asheville Buncombe County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People President Carmen Ramos-Kennedy spoke and said protesters have the support of the local and state NAACP.
"Any bill that undermines the constitutional right of one person undermines and hurts us all. HB 2 is extreme and immoral," Ramos-Kennedy said.
She criticized Gov. Pat McCrory for signing the bill and the legislature for calling a special session to kill anti-discrimination rules.
She said the legislature didn't call special sessions to expand voter rights, accept federal Medicaid expansion or raise the minimum wage.
"Shame on them," she said.
'Will not stand'
Several elected officials attended, including Mayor Esther Manheimer, City Councilman Keith Young and Register of Deeds Drew Reisinger.
Sen. Terry Van Duyn took her turn at the megaphone, saying she was there to give "a simple message." First, that the legislature was wrong; second, "That I see you, I hear you, I love you and together we will work until we get rid of this bill."
And finally, that "this is not North Carolina." The Democratic state senator said her Facebook page and e-mail account had "exploded" with people who are angry and upset.
"This will not stand," she said several times.
Wrapping up the rally, Zeek Chris with Tranzmission asked people to donate, talk to legislators and come to a 3:30 p.m. Sunday therapy session "for those of us who feel threatened and for those of us whose safety is no longer something we can be assured of."
Beach-Ferrara said it was important to show the wider population that LGBT people were among them.
"Do this again and again and again: make it clear that you are an LGBT person. That you know LGBT people. That you love LGBT people," she said. "Our work is about being community. Our work is about standing up for what is right in the face of what is wrong."
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Protester reactions
Here are some of the reasons protesters said they attended the Thursday rally:
Debbie Freeman, 60, attended with her daughter Stephanie. Debbie Freeman said she lived in Alabama in the 1960s during racially-based civil rights protests and felt the situation now was similar and that religion was being used to push anti-LGBT laws.
“Isn’t there supposed to be a separation of church and state?” she said. “When you do this you alienate more people.”
Steve Jencks, 58, of East Asheville is straight but carried a rainbow flag and said it was important to come to the protest, “because people are people.”
“We should all be treated equally. I don’t know what these people are afraid of or if it’s just a control thing,” Jencks said.
“When they get together in Raleigh and do this, it’s embarrassing. It’s sad.”
Michael Morgan, 34, a transgender man from Canton, said it was important to come because the law “compromises our safety and our well-being and just our ability to live.”
The right of transgender people to be able to choose a bathroom that they feel fits their gender identity is about safety, Morgan said.
“It’s about assault. It’s about our dignity. It is unsafe if we use the incorrect restroom.”