Politics

Crowd rallies against HB2

Protesters hold signs expressing their oppositon to HB2 Friday at the Historic Courthouse.

By Bill Moss, Published: April 15, 2016

Nearly 200 people gathered at the Historic Courthouse downtown Friday afternoon in a spirited protest against HB2, the state law on sexual-orientation discrimination that has sharply divided North Carolina voters and provoked vocal national opposition.
The Rev. Jim McKinley, pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Hendersonville, urged the protesters to set aside the “language of opposition” and focus on how they can change things by showing up and making their voices heard.
“I want to think the sponsors of House Bill 2 for all they’ve done to awaken our awareness of transgender concerns and LGBT rights in North Carolina,” McKinley said.

Sponsored by the Campaign for Southern Equality and theHenderson County chapter of the NAACP, the rally aimed to stoke opposition to HB2 but also to explain its broader implications. Organizers handed out copies of the bill in an effort to show that it was broader than just a "bathroom bill" affecting transgender men and women.

“We want to give the community a chance to protest against this bill, which is about discrimination against many people including the GLBT community,” PFLAG chapter president Jerry Miller said in advance of the protest. “Prohibiting people from using the bathroom of the gender to which they identify is just one small part. To name a few others — it prohibits communities from passing ordinances which affect wages, and other working issues.”
The most personal appeal came from Archer Faust, a transgender male.
“There was a lot more to it that I was very angry about,” he said of the bill. “The whole bathroom issue was just the first page or two. There are more sections covering employment and public employees. I was very upset to learn that now that HB2 had passed it was considered a religious freedom bill.”
“They’re using fear of trans people and I’m upset that they’re using that,” he told the crowd of 175 people. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. We’re just people, right?”
The crowd cheered and applauded.
He called on the audience and other speakers to send a message: “We won’t tolerate hatred. We won’t tolerate it in Henderson County or anywhere else.”
“Repeal that law,” the crowd chanted as the next speaker, Rabbi Phil Bentley, came to the lectern.
Bentley read a letter he said “rabbis all over the state” had signed opposing what it called “state-sponsored discrimination.”
“We will not stand idly by as the North Carolina Legislature weakens the legal protections for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender brothers and sisters,” Bentley said. “Our prayers are with the thousands of North Carolinians whose humanity is under attack. We stand with them and against those who would strip them of their legal guarantees under the law.”
“I just got back from a family event in New York,” Bently told the crowd. “North Carolina has become a national joke.”
The most personal appeal came from Archer Faust, a transgender male.
“There was a lot more to it that I was very angry about,” he said. “The whole bathroom issue was just the first page or two. There are more sections covering employment and public employees. I was very upset to learn that now that HB2 had passed it was considered a religious freedom bill.”
“They’re using fear of trans people and I’m upset that they’re using that,” he added. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. We’re just people, right?”
The crowd cheered and applauded.