When Campus Pride was founded in 2001, I intentionally chose Charlotte, North Carolina. I felt it was important to build a national LGBTQ organization in the South. It never made sense to me why national LGBTQ organizations all had to be in Los Angeles, New York or Washington, D.C.
My own personal lessons in coming out had taught me that simply living my life openly as an active leader within a community could make a positive difference. Why not have more national organizations actually based and operated in areas with little or no LGBTQ visibility?
As many of you may know, the state of North Carolina has recently become a political firestorm with the passage of House Bill 2 (HB2). The “bathroom bill,” as it has been called, not only prevents transgender people from using the bathroom on the basis of their gender identity, it is also a direct assault on civil protections and the right to earn a living wage.
The HB2 revolt and negative reactions to boycott the state of North Carolina have been swift and strong. Cities, counties and state governments have issued travel bans to North Carolina. Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, Bruce Springsteen and other artists have canceled concert dates.
The NBA is considering pulling out the upcoming All-Star Game in 2017. Deutsche Bank and PayPal stopped plans to expand operations in the state. And most recently, the U.S. Department of Justice is suing the state of North Carolina over HB2.
These HB2 boycott efforts and actions have placed Campus Pride in a vital role as a national organization within North Carolina. In April, we assisted with several protests against HB2 by students within the UNC system. We also reached out to North Carolina private colleges including Davidson College, Guilford College, Queens University and Elon University to issue statements about HB2.
Over the last 15 years, by being based in Charlotte, Campus Pride has invested tremendous resources into the local community and across the state supporting LGBTQ youth. Our organization even spoke the night that the Charlotte Non-Discrimination Ordinance passed at the Charlotte City Council meeting. All of us were very proud of the victory that night. Charlotte did the right thing—and as an organization we still are proud to call Charlotte our home.
