RALEIGH, North Carolina, April 27, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – Fifty-four pro-LGBT activists were arrested protesting North Carolina’s bathroom privacy law on Monday as the North Carolina legislature began its session.
Following a rally outside the state capitol, protestors held sit-ins at state legislators’ offices and then stayed in the building rallying past the end of the day’s legislative session.
The passage of House Bill 2 and Governor Pat McCrory’s subsequent signing of it into law has generated fury from LGBT activists and the left.
Local news stations and the Associated Press captured some of the protestors’ actions, which included being carried by police out of the state capitol in plastic handcuffs, shouting, and loudly chanting.
The protestors will be charged with second-degree trespassing and one will be charged with resisting arrest, according to Acting General Assembly Police Chief Martin Brock. They will also be cited for violating building rules or the fire code.
This is the arrest process, one protester at a time. Rinse. Repeat. #ncpol #HB2 pic.twitter.com/w9K3tHMuux
— Colin Campbell (@RaleighReporter) April 26, 2016
Some of the protestors who were arrested were wearing rainbow stoles. Rev. William Barber, the President of the North Carolina NAACP, joined the pro-LGBT protestors.
Rep. Tim Moore, the speaker of the North Carolina House, said that he doesn’t support discrimination against anyone and that grown men using women’s bathrooms “defies common sense.” Moore also said that the law follows the lead of federal law, which doesn’t list sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classifications.
Many of the protestors convened outside of Moore’s office.
Anti-#hb2 Protesters, who came in w/ Rev Barber, sitting outside @NCHouseSpeaker's office. #ncga #wral #ncpol pic.twitter.com/GyJHCtjiu8
— mark binker (@binker) April 25, 2016
Also on Monday, several thousand supporters of the bathroom privacy law held a rally to thank and encourage state legislators and Governor Pat McCrory. NC Values Coalition reported that over 4,000 people joined the rally, including the Benham brothers and local pastors.
@BenhamBrothers @JasonBBenham @DavidDBenham What a beautiful sight of God's people standing for truth. #StandWithNC pic.twitter.com/j8HAAs3o1g
— NC Values Coalition (@NCValues) April 25, 2016
@ADFKellie of @AllianceDefends with 4000+ citizens & 100s of pastors standing for #Hb2 pic.twitter.com/Zs4qlfcHhd
— NC Values Coalition (@NCValues) April 25, 2016
The state’s Episcopal and Methodist bishops have spoken out in favor of repealing the law. A spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh told WRAL.com that the diocese doesn’t have a position on HB2 due to its “complexities” and “the fact that the full legal ramifications are still being debated.”
Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of the Diocese of Raleigh and Bishop Peter J. Jugis of the Diocese of Charlotte previously asked the state legislature to overturn an ordinance in the city of Charlotte, NC that allowed men to access women’s bathrooms. HB2 was passed partly because of the Charlotte ordinance.