Council candidates come out to support LGBTQ community

A City Council candidate forum called into question how progressive Asheville really is when it comes to rights and protections for those in the LGBTQ community. All six candidates said they are in favor of the city of Asheville implementing a nondiscrimination ordinance, which is specifically disallowed under House Bill 142.

Asheville LGBTQ community to celebrate progress, call for change at Blue Ridge Pride Festival on Oct. 1

Author, transgender activist and newcomer to Asheville Tina Madison White reflects on the state of the Pride movement in 2016. White is the director of operations for Blue Ridge Pride Center, which will host its eighth annual Pride Festival Saturday, Oct. 1 in Pack Square Park in Asheville.

Protest planned for Gov. McCrory’s western residence open house

Despite some economic gains the state has made since he took office as North Carolina’s governor in 2013, Pat McCrory isn’t a popular guy with those on the left. In conjunction with McCrory’s planned Governor’s Western Residence open house on Saturday, May 14, a broad spectrum of social and environmental advocacy groups plan to protest legislation McCrory has signed. […]

In photos: A rally in support of HB 2 and protesters against it share Pack Square

On Saturday, April 2, supporters and opponents of the recently-passed North Carolina legislation House Bill 2 demonstrated in Asheville’s Pack Square. The new law overturns a Charlotte ordinance that would have allowed people to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity rather than the sex that matches their birth certificate. It also prevents other municipalities from passing similar ordinances to Charlotte’s, and it limits legal recourse for those who believe they have experienced discrimination based on race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex or disability.