LGBT Rights LGBTQ

Charlotte Passes Nondiscrimination Ordinance to Protect LGBTQ Community

On Monday, Charlotte, North Carolina’s city council unanimously voted to pass an ordinance that extends nondiscrimination protections to LGBT people. The new ordinance protects several new classes from discrimination in employment, public accommodations, and passenger vehicles for hire and procurement. It prohibits discrimination against individuals on the basis of familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity, […]

Abortion Courts Health

North Carolina’s 20-Week Abortion Ban Ruled Unconstitutional by Federal Appeals Court

North Carolina’s ban on abortion past 20 weeks of pregnancy was unanimously declared unconstitutional on Wednesday by Richmond, Virginia’s 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The ban had been in effect since 1973 and was enacted as a response to the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Roe v. Wade. It prohibited abortion after 20 weeks except […]

Activism LGBTQ Violence Against Women

Young Transgender Activist Shot and Killed in North Carolina

Monika Diamond, a 34-year-old transgender LGBT+ activist and businesswoman, was shot and killed on Wednesday, March 18 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Multiple shots had been fired before police and ambulance were dispatched in response to a disturbance call. After attempting to revive her, Diamond was pronounced dead at the scene. According to Maya Oppenheim, Women’s […]

Politics Reproductive Rights

North Carolina House of Representatives Failed to Overturn Governor Roy Cooper’s Veto of an Anti-abortion Bill

The North Carolina House of Representatives failed to overturn Governor Roy Cooper’s veto of an anti-abortion bill that would have required physicians to treat any newborn delivered during an abortion and grant the infant the same protections guaranteed to other patients. Known as a “born-alive” bill, this abortion ban would have made it illegal for […]

Education

Judge Rules Dress Code Requiring Skirts Unconstitutional

A judge ruled that a North Carolina school’s dress code prohibiting girls from wearing pants is unconstitutional because it violates the equal protection clause, after three girls, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, sued the Charter Day School. Judge Malcolm J. Howard wrote that the, “skirts requirement causes the girls to suffer a burden […]

Politics

Feminist Candidates Find Support in Battleground Districts

A recent poll in eleven battleground districts, including districts in Kentucky, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, Arizona, and Minnesota, revealed that about half of voters support electing feminist candidates. In Kentucky’s sixth district, 47 percent of voters supported electing more feminist candidates, while more than 50 percent of voters supported feminist candidates in Pennsylvania, […]

Uncategorized

Supreme Court Rules on Major Gerrymandering Cases

The Supreme Court ruled on two major cases regarding gerrymandering on Monday. The decisions, a victory for Republican lawmakers in Texas and North Carolina, allow for the majority of the states’ voting districts to remain in their current design ahead of the 2018 elections.

Other Issues Race

Prominent North Carolina Civil Rights Center Banned from Engaging in Civil Rights Litigation

In a 24-3 vote last week, the University of North Carolina Board of Governors (BOG), which determines the rules and regulations for the University of North Carolina (UNC) system, barred the UNC Chapel Hill School of Law’s Center for Civil Rights from engaging in civil rights litigation for minority and low-income communities. The UNC Center […]

Health

Maternal Mortality Rates are Rising in the United States

The United States saw a dramatic 27 percent jump in the maternal death rate from 19 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2000 to 24 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2014. In 2015, the rate once again went up to 26.4 deaths per 100,000 live births, and it is black women who are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy or childbirth related incidences than white women.

LGBTQ

North Carolina Lawmakers Roll Back Anti-LGBTQ Repeal Bill

The new bill, while repealing the language of HB2, does little to overhaul the harmful impact of the law. The North Carolina General Assembly will still have authority to pass laws over access to multi-stall restrooms and bar local governments from putting forward nondiscrimination ordinances until 2020.