Charlotte leader proposes new LGBTQ, natural hair protections

CHARLOTTE — There have been nine North Carolina towns and cities that have passed LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections, but the state’s largest city, Charlotte, isn’t one of them.

The Queen City moved a step closer, though, after a proposal from Republican Charlotte City Councilman Tariq Bokhari.

Bokhari and the Mecklenburg County Young Republicans crafted a nondiscrimination ordinance that offers protections for LGBTQ residents in public accommodations, employment and housing. The issue is personal for Kyle Luebke, a Mecklenburg County Young Republican who worked on the new ordinance.

“As a gay man, I have been discriminated against at restaurants, bed-and-breakfasts and financial institutions just because I am a gay man. And I know other people who have been discriminated against,” Luebke said. “We have been waiting since January. We could have passed these January first if we wanted to and, here we are in June, Pride Month, and we still do not have a nondiscrimination ordinance.”

[READ MORE: City of Charlotte working on nondiscrimination ordinance]

Bokhari said the issue is important to him. He has engaged with leaders in Raleigh to make sure there isn’t a similar fallout like the city experienced with HB2, more commonly known as the “bathroom bill.”

“Some people might say, ‘There are not enough people. This is a solution looking for a problem.’ My Republican response is one individual is one too many lacking their liberties and freedoms,” Bokhari said.

The ordinance protects more than the LGBTQ community. It offers protections against natural hair discrimination too.

Different by Design salon owner Lamonica Cuthbertson said it breaks her heart when people come into her salon and said they are being forced to change their natural hair. She said natural hair protections are long overdue.

“We try to embody enjoy how you look and that’s part of being different by design,” she said. “You should be able to be diverse and be able to express who you are. That’s your individuality, your hair.”

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On Twitter, Charlotte Pride said nondiscrimination protections are a nonpartisan issue and all should be able to rally behind efforts to make sure Charlotte is a safer more welcoming home.

Charlotte City Council will discuss this topic in August.

Click here to read the proposed new ordinance.

Charlotte considers non-discrimination orders to protect LGBTQ community

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