If there's one thing liberals are, it's persistent! Months after FRC helped rally pastors to defeat Charlotte's bathroom bill, the Left apparently didn't get the message. In January, the city council was back at it, recycling the same ordinance in hopes that stifling religious liberty and opening up women's restrooms to grown men would be more popular this time around.
After 40,000 emails, phone calls, and several alerts, members voted 6-5 last March to kill the bill -- handing the Left another crushing defeat in its bid to silence and punish conservatives for their views. Our good friends and Charlotte residents, David and Jason Benham, helped lead the defense, along with Rev. Franklin Graham, the North Carolina Family Policy Council, FRC's Watchmen pastors, and the FRC Action team. All of those networks will have to be on their toes to stop the proposal this time around. If voters don't speak up as forcefully, Charlotte will be the first city in the state to give people who identify as transgenders special protected status in law.
Liberals insist it's a matter of life and death for the LGBT community. The reality is, these efforts are a matter of livelihood and the death of freedom for Christians across America. Bakers, fire chiefs, policemen, lobbyists, teachers, wedding planners -- they're all being forced by the government to check their beliefs at the workplace door under measures exactly like this one. Fortunately, the American people are starting to catch on to the Left's march and demanding leaders discard these SOGI ordinances. If you live in the area, speak up!
Also, for more on the dangers of sexual orientation/gender identity measures, make sure you've read FRC's new paper, "Can There Be 'Compromise' between Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity Non-Discrimination Laws and Religious Liberty Protections?"
