North Carolina Anti-LGBT Law is ‘Slap in the face,’ says professor who filed suit
By Karen Sloan, From The National Law Journal
A new North Carolina law that rolls back protections for gay and transgender people has created an uproar, with elected officials and corporate leaders from across the country calling for its repeal.
Governors from three states have banned most official travel to North Carolina in response to House Bill 2, which bars local governments from adopting anti-discrimination ordinances that protect gay and transgender people, and that requires transgender people to use public bathrooms designated for those of their biological sex.
On Monday, a coalition of civil rights and gay rights groups and three individual plaintiffs sued, arguing that the law is unconstitutional. Among the individual plaintiffs is Angela Gilmore, a lesbian and associate dean for academic affairs at North Carolina Central University School of Law. The following day, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper—a Democrat running for governor—announced he won’t defend the law in court.
The National Law Journal spoke with Gilmore about her decision to join the suit and the reaction she has received on campus. Her answers have been edited for length.
What was your initial response to the legislation?
Initially, what I knew about the legislation was that it was an attempt to undo what the folks in Charlotte had done with their ordinance [allowing transgendered people to use public bathroom designated for the sex of which they identify]. When I learned what else was included in HB 2, I was puzzled. I was hurt. I was angry. I felt that it was a slap in the face by a legislature that had been trying for years to figure out what they were going to do since they had lost on the marriage-equality front.
It just felt very personal and mean-spirited to me. I thought it was horrible enough when the focus was on the Charlotte ordinance, but when I saw everything else that was included in the bill, it felt very intentional and it felt like they wanted to send a message. This is a statute that nobody asked for and nobody needed.
How did you get involved in the suit?
I was asked by [American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Director] Chris Brook if I would be willing to be one of the name plaintiffs. I said, “Of course.” From 2014 to 2015, I was on the board of the ACLU, so that’s how they were familiar with me. I’ve known Chris longer than that. We’ve been on a couple of panels together.
Can you explain how this law will impact you?
As a member of this community and a resident of this state, it’s going to make me feel less safe, more vulnerable, less welcome. It’s this constant reminder that I need to always watch my back. For me, I think it will be more of a psychological and emotional impact, rather than a tangible affect on my day-to-day life.
That’s something else that made me want to be a plaintiff in this lawsuit, because there are many people who don’t have the privilege and luxury of being able to step forward and identify as a member of the LGBTQ family, but I do, so that’s the least I can do to help all the other folks who aren’t able to be as up-front and public about it.
What kind of reaction have you received thus far?
It has just been incredible. It’s been so affirming. I’ve received emails from students, former students, colleagues. People have stopped by my office. People I don’t even know have emailed or called thanking me for doing this. I’ve only received two emails I’d characterize as negative, but about 50 emails that have been supportive and affirming. It highlights that what the legislature has done is not what the people of North Carolina would have done. It’s not what they want.
Did you feel any added responsibility to participate in the lawsuit because of your position as a law professor?
I did. Part of it was my understanding of what was going on, especially the constitutional issues going on. The second is that I’m on a faculty full of activists and people who are doing good work. That’s what North Carolina Central University is all about. Also, when I talk to my students about advocating on behalf of their clients and about the responsibility that we owe to our communities as a result of the position we have as attorneys—I don’t know that I would have sought this out, but I do know that it would have been hard to face my students if I had said no.
IMAGES:
Front from left, demonstrators Jess Jude, Loan Tran and Noah Rubin-Blose sit chained together in the middle of the street during a protest against House Bill 2 Thursday, March 24, 2016, outside of the Governor’s Mansion on North Blount Street in downtown Raleigh, N.C. Photo: Jill Knight/The News & Observer via AP
Angela Gilmore. Courtesy photo
