CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Monday night, LGBTQ advocates and civil rights groups held a rally at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center in Uptown Charlotte. Event organizers are calling for Charlotte City Council to pass nondiscrimination ordinances.
Updated protections would address discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations in the area.
"We've sent thousands of emails, thousands of phone calls, and we're not getting the movement we need from our city council," said Cameron Pruette, president of the Mecklenburg County chapter of the LGBTQ Democrats of NC.
Several other cities, towns and counties across the state have already adopted inclusive protections following House Bill 142, which partially repealed 2016's HB2 which banned transgender people from using the bathrooms that align with their gender identity.
"It's important that we raise our voices together, we're seen and we're heard," Pruette said. "Because basically I could marry my partner tomorrow and be fired for it the very next day in Charlotte. So that needs to change."