JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After a supposedly bipartisan deal to repeal North Carolina's HB2 law collapsed, some in Jacksonville are wondering how the failed effort up north might affect whether Jacksonville broadens its human rights ordinance to include the LGBT community.
After more than nine hours of backroom discussions and sporadic public effort in North Carolina, Republican state legislators quit trying to repeal the law, called House Bill 2, and went home Wednesday night.
The law omits gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from state anti-discrimination protections, bars local governments from passing broad non-discrimination ordinances covering them, and orders transgender people to use bathrooms and showers that align with their sex at birth. It has been so controversial that it has caused the state to be shunned by corporations, entertainers and high-profile sporting events.
Jacksonville has been wrestling with a potential update to its anti-discrimination law, but efforts to change the ordinance to include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people have failed.
The HRO amendment has drawn heated discussion in Jacksonville, with churches and others saying special protections for the LGBT community is something they can’t abide by.
City Councilman Tommy Hazouri, a former mayor of Jacksonville and an outspoken proponent of expanding the HRO, said he's updated his HRO expansion bill and hopes the new version will be something all sides can agree on.
“It addresses the religious issue. It exempts all religion. It exempts all of their schools, exempts businesses that are under 15,” Hazouri said. “We listened and we've learned, and that's what's in this bill. It went from 25 pages to five pages.”
Last February, Hazouri withdrew his original HRO expansion bill when it appeared the measure was going to be defeated. He said he hopes more people will back him this time around.
“I hope that the best Christmas present we have come the first of the year is that we can offer a bill that is going to be all inclusive and address the concerns the council members and community members had,” Hazouri said.
Pastors opposed to the HRO amendment said they will be looking closely at Hazouri's new legislation, but asserted that they don't believe they should have to follow a law that goes against their religious teachings.
Those in favor of HRO expansion said they believe the financial losses in North Carolina could be a lesson for Jacksonville.
“The experience in North Carolina where we have seen all of these bad results from having discrimination in state law can only help us in Jacksonville,” HRO advocate Jimmy Midyette said. “We are looking to capitalize, frankly, on what North Carolina is giving up.”
The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce is working with City Council members to try to get the HRO expansion legislation passed so the city doesn't miss out on economic opportunities from businesses who might shy away from Jacksonville.