North Carolina's current hate crimes law has enhanced penalties for crimes targeting a person because of race, color, religion, nationality or country of origin. Luebke's bill would also toughen those penalties. Then, the Local Government committee of the House and Senate passed separate measures last Wednesday granting two Triangle-area counties the right to add sexual orientation to its list of protected areas. The House committee approved the change for Orange County, while the Senate committee passed a similar measure for Durham County.
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The Front Page GayToday does not endorse related sites. Cullen acknowledged the significance of the votes, but realized there is much more work to be done. The lobbyist for LGBT causes said uphill battles remain for these three measures to pass both houses of the legislature. Opposition from conservatives remains strong. Cullen said the Equality Begins at Home series of events across the state in March helped gain support for the measures.