Yesterday in North Carolina, lawmakers fast-tracked a bill undoing local ordinances protecting LGBT citizens, effectively legalizing discrimination. Despite strong opposition from the business community, NC Democrats and regular citizens, Gov. Pat McCrory signed the bill into law late last night.
There are more than 200 pieces of similar legislation proposed across the nation. This regressive legislation is most likely as blowback from last June’s Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage and other advances made the past few years. Members of the LGBT community, their allies – really anyone that believes in the strength of our constitution should closely follow what comes next as lawsuits challenging the validity of law are sure to ensure. How this law (and others like it) is interpreted by our courts will have far reaching ramifications.
Mark Joseph Stern, LGBT and law reporter for Slate published a cogent and detailed analysis of what may happen next – for example, $4.5 billion in Title IX federal educational funding earmarked for North Carolina are at risk, among other legal ramifications.
Read Stern’s entire article here.
