North Carolina LGBTQ+ elected officials and local community leaders gathered at Fiction Kitchen, a local LGBTQ-owned restaurant in Raleigh, yesterday to warn of the threat Donald Trump poses to the freedoms and rights of LGBTQ+ communities in North Carolina if he is elected for a second term.
State Representatives Allison Dahle, Marcia Morey, Vernetta Alston and Deb Butler, alongside Raleigh City Council Member Stormie Forte gathered to underscore Donald Trump’s record of attacking the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. Some of this record includes, but isn’t exclusive to, gutting Obama-Biden anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ Americans, appointing judges who oppose same-sex marriage and banning transgender soldiers from enlisting in the military. They also emphasized the dangerous agenda he and his allies would implement if elected, including plans to restrict access to IVF and surrogacy, which would harm LGBTQ+ individuals and families.
“As a member of the LGBTQ+ community in North Carolina and one of only six LGBTQ+ legislators in the state, I feel a responsibility to sound the alarm about the greatest threat to our community: Donald Trump going back to the White House,” said State Representative Allison Dahle. “When our fundamental rights are challenged and our safety and wellbeing are threatened, going backwards is not an option. We aren’t going to let our rights be stripped away…”
“If Trump is elected again, all of our rights are at risk,” said State Representative Marcia Morey. “The kind of ‘leader’ Donald Trump promises to be in a second term is a president who rips Americans’ freedoms away and who will put more extreme judges in power … With Donald Trump, we are all at risk.”
“We’ve seen the effects of Trump’s anti-LGBTQ+ agenda right here in North Carolina and our state legislature has been emboldened by his dangerous agenda,” said State Representative Vernetta Alston. “Just last year, Trump’s allies in Raleigh voted to pass extreme legislation that targets LGBTQ+ youth and prevents teachers from creating inclusive classrooms where students are free to be themselves … The level of extremism we’re seeing in our state, and in states across the country, is because of Donald Trump.”