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Skip to content Home » Archive » Charlotte Pride Offers Community Relief Program Last year Charlotte Pride initiated a program that provided funding in the form of mini-grants for those in the community in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. This year the organization has re-launched the program to offer more support for Charlotte’s LGBTQ population. As the pandemic continues, now in what is being referred to as its “fourth wave,” assistance of any kind can’t come quick enough for some.

The TSA’s actions against Jamii Erway run counter to the government agency’s listed policy. (Photo Credit: TSA/Facebook) The mother of a transgender teen recently announced she has filed a federal law suit against the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for violating her daughter’s right to privacy when they insisted she let them inspect her genitals and refused to allow her and her mother on a flight outward bound from Raleigh-Durham International Airport to New York.

Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson claims public school library book urges children to “cut off their male genitalia.” (Photo Credit: Facebook) Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson is a hyper-conservative Republican and self-proclaimed “man of God,” Since his election as the state’s Lieutenant governor last year, he instituted a task force to review public school systems and the teaching styles used in them to compile the “Indoctrination in North Carolina Public Education Report.” That report,...

Willum Watson, a currently enrolled student at Knoxville, Tennessee’s Fulton High School, uploaded a pair of TikToks on August 21 under the username @willim4606 that showed Watson crying and speaking to people off-camera about a Black transgender student who was being harassed. Watson says that he was defending a friend from bullies who were deadnaming and threatening this friend’s life. As he stepped up to protect his peer, a woman, who Watson does not name, called the police.

The Mecklenburg Political Action Committee (MeckPAC) Facebook page has been silent since February 5 of this year, following a 2020 termination letter from the North Carolina State Board of Elections (BOD) and Ethics Enforcement. Despite what volunteers and supporters of MeckPAC may believe, the letter did not mean the organization no longer exists. Instead, it was issued in response to the fact that the 2018 fourth quarter report had yet been filed by the organization.

As of August 23, all Charlotte Pride events from August 28 until September 18 have been postponed until October, 2021. Because of the Delta variant and increased rates of COVID-19 infections, Charlotte Pride will require all attendees for October’s indoor events to wear a mask and bring proof of a full COVID-19 vaccine. No unvaccinated individuals may participate. As of now, the most immediate schedule changes can be found in the festival and concert.

January 2021 in North Carolina brought the end of the moratorium on cities and counties implementing their own nondiscrimination ordinances (NDOs), essentially allowing local governments in North Carolina to decide whether or not LGBTQ and BIPOC employees would be protected in the workplace. The most recent additions to the list of NDO holders are Winston-Salem and Chatham County.

Charlotte’s LGBTQ workforce far more likely to be infected by new COVID-19 Delta variant community at large. (Photo Credit: Stocksnap.io) Mask mandates have been a constant source of debate for the past year and a half. In the last few weeks Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles and the local city government have sent a multitude of notices out regarding evolving local mask policies.

WSJ Headlines signal positive changes for Winston-Salem’s LGBTQ community. (Photo Credit: Facebook) Winston-Salem unanimously passed a nondiscrimination ordinance (NDO) August 16, making it the most recent North Carolina city since Charlotte to adopt a policy to protect LGBTQ residents in areas of employment and public accommodations. The NDO also provides protection against discrimination for those wearing natural hair styles that reflect cultural significance.

With changing social ideals and legal protections, younger generations have more freedom in comfortably expressing their true selves. (Photo Credit: Sharon McCutcheon via Unsplash) Right around the time when rapper DaBaby was deleting his suspect apology to the LGBTQ community for insensitive comments about gay men and HIV/AIDS, the Charlotte City Council was unanimously passing a nondiscrimination ordinance (NDO).