The Republicans Have a Banner Year Promoting Homophobia and Transphobia

Trans Children Are Not Political Pawns
Photo by Nikolas Gannon on Unsplash

According to a report by the Human Rights Campaign that was issued in June^[1], 525 bills were introduced in state legislatures attacking the LGBTQ+ community. Of those, 220 were targeted against the trans community. Seventy of these bills were enacted into law. The Republicans have adopted a strategy of focusing on the state legislatures, many in which they hold a majority. Many of these laws already have been challenged in court awaiting trials that may overturn them.

The big LGBTQ+ event in the Triangle for August is the annual film festival at the Carolina Theatre in Durham. Directors and producers of some films will appear in person, and some may take questions following the films. The OUTSOUTH Queer Film Festival (formerly known as the North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film Festival) runs the weekend of 8/10 - 8/13. The films will be repeated the next week from 8/14 to 8/17. The festival started in 1995. Go to CarolinaTheatre.org. You need to scroll down to get to the festival information.

Pride Festival in Apex

I was pleasantly surprised when the N&O listed 40 events for Pride Month in the Triangle. The list not only included Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, but also several surrounding suburbs. That doesn’t include the big parade that will be held in Durham in September or the film festival in August. In the past year, Wake County passed a model non-discrimination ordinance that has been used by several communities. Of course, we’re an urban area with a lot of out-of-state transplants, but we still rank as one of the more progressive areas in the state.