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Greensboro Joins Four N.C. Communities In Reinstating LGBTQ Protections

Greensboro City Council members. Photo courtesy Greensboro-nc.gov.

Greensboro has joined four other North Carolina cities in passing nondiscrimination ordinances for LGBTQ people.

The actions followed the recent expiration of a ban on such rules by local governments. The moratorium that expired last month was implemented in 2017 as the result of a compromise between Republican legislators and Democratic Governor Roy Cooper to get rid of HB2, the state's 2016 so-called “bathroom bill.”

Greensboro's resolution essentially reinstated protections that had been nullified by the state. Language was added that further defines sexual orientation and gender, and protects people from discrimination based on hairstyles.

Councilmember Michelle Kennedy said the resolution was one step in a longer process of expanding protections in Greensboro.

"For me, this is not symbolism," said Kennedy during debate. "This is a statement and an action in the right direction that pulls back something that was ripped away from us in the passage of HB2 and allows us an opportunity to further expand nondiscrimination ordinances within the city of Greensboro."

City Council unanimously voted to reinstate the ordinances.

As outlined in a news release by Equality NC, Durham, Carrboro, Hillsborough, and Chapel Hill have passed similar ordinances expanding LGBTQ protections.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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