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Economic impact revealed after HB2 removed from City Council agenda

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte City Council removed the discussion item on its non-discrimination ordinance from the agenda for Monday night's meeting.

City leaders thought about repealing it's ordinance to make a deal with lawmakers over HB2 but inevitably took it off the table.

During the mayor and city council topics portion of the meeting, a motion was put forth to discuss the topic on May 25, during the budget straw vote meeting. Council voted 7-4 against the motion.

If council was to vote to repeal its LGBT ordinance that based bathroom access to gender identity, then it might have lead to a compromise with lawmakers to reform HB2 to avoid losing more jobs, concerts and conventions because of the controversial law.

But there were not enough votes to make that happen.

Despite the discussion between city officials being being removed, the public including organizations on both sides of the issue had their chance to speak.

Channel 9 received new numbers from the city Tuesday morning that show between March 23 and April 30, inquiries from companies interested in development were down 58 percent from 2015, while visits from potential clients were down 69 percent.

Leaders also estimate that Mecklenburg County missed out on $3.7 million in sales and property tax revenue from canceled jobs and events.

Pastors gathered in Raleigh Tuesday to encourage state lawmakers to stand firm and keep House Bill Two.

“It’s not a civil rights issue. In no way is it. This is a moral issue. Anytime you remove God out of society, you have a godless society,” Dr. Gabriel Rogers, founder of Kingdom Christian Church, said.

Dr. Gabriel Rogers, founder of Kingdom Christian Church in Charlotte, told Channel 9 that lawmakers should not force the opinions of people who are confused sexually down others' throats.

He said pastors and other members of the community need to speak the truth in love.

Members of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce had planned to urge Charlotte leaders to repeal the city's non-discrimination ordinance at a city council meeting Monday.

"The Mayor and City Council will continue to work with the General Assembly and with business and community leaders to address the continuing negative impacts of HB2 on the City of Charlotte and North Carolina," according to a statement from officials. "Charlotte remains committed to being a welcoming and inclusive community that is free of discrimination. Economic impact information will be shared with council in writing and provided to the media."

However,

The chamber said it is against any form of discrimination and wants to encourage the council to repeal the ordinance as a first step so state lawmakers can make the next move and change House Bill 2.

Bob Morgan, president and CEO of the chamber, released a letter that he sent to the mayor and city council.

"We believe the council should act to take the first step in a process we hope leads to reforms to House Bill 2," Morgan wrote.

Morgan also wrote that the current policy has put Charlotte's economic future at risk.

The Human Rights Campaign said Charlotte should not back down to state lawmakers.

They said the solution is to repeal House Bill 2 instead of the non-discrimination ordinance.

Dave Matthews concert in Charlotte to benefit organizations defending equality in N.C.

The Dave Matthews Band, scheduled for a concert on May 27 at the PNC Music Pavilion, will donate portions of the proceeds via the band’s Bama Works Fund to five charitable organizations:

  • American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
  • Lambda Legal
  • ACLU of North Carolina
  • Equality NC
  • Time Out Youth

The five groups were identified by “NC Needs You,” an organization that encourages artists to keep their dates in North Carolina in order to bring awareness and resources to the fight for quality in response to House Bill 2.

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