LGBT Rights
May 13, 2016 -
Announcing the U.S. Justice Department would sue North Carolina over its anti-transgender "bathroom bill," Attorney General Loretta Lynch noted there's historically been backlash to equality gains. What's been happening in Southern legislatures since the Supreme Court struck down marriage discrimination last year bears that out.
July 3, 2015 -
After the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage throughout the nation last week, some Southern political leaders pledged to resist the ruling. Their statements recall Southern politicians' attempts to resist the Supreme Court's decision to end segregation in the 1950s and '60s.
June 11, 2015 -
The high-profile coming out of Olympic champion Caitlyn Jenner, formerly Bruce Jenner, as a trans woman has put transgender issues in the spotlight. Transgender people -- especially trans women of color -- face shockingly high levels of violence, and a disproportionate number of recent killings of transgender people took place in the South. But a new initiative is working for change.
March 30, 2015 -
The firestorm of controversy sparked by a new Indiana law that critics say provides a "license to discriminate" against gay people and others hasn't stopped North Carolina lawmakers from introducing a similar -- and even potentially more discriminatory -- measure.
October 10, 2014 -
Following the Supreme Court's refusal this week to review several lower-court decisions invalidating same-sex marriage bans, marriage equality is now the law of the land in over half of all states. While some Southern states are embracing equality for lesbian and gay couples, others are resisting.
June 25, 2014 -
North Carolina's Republican House Speaker Pro Tem Paul "Skip" Stam distributed a handout during a debate this week over discrimination in charter school hiring that likened being gay to being sexually aroused by feces. The same flier has also been distributed by notorious anti-gay hate groups.
May 8, 2014 -
Real estate attorney Mark Chilton has been elected register of deeds in Orange County, NC following a campaign in which he pledged to defy state law by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
