National
Cooper signs deal to replace HB2 as LGBT advocates cry betrayal


North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has endorsed a HB2 deal vehemently opposed by LGBT advocates. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael K. Lavers)
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed Thursday a proposal to replace North Carolina’s anti-LGBT House Bill 2 with another law enabling anti-LGBT discrimination, prompting cries of betrayal from LGBT advocates who say he disregarded his campaign promise to sign the repeal in full.
The measure, House Bill 142, was approved on a bipartisan basis Thursday in the Senate by a vote of 32-16 and the House by vote of 70-48 after Republican leaders and Cooper announced the deal late Wednesday night. Cooper announced during a news conference later in the day he signed the bill.
“It doesn’t fully correct it,” Cooper said. “I know we got more to do, and I think some people are unhappy because it doesn’t fully correct it, and I wish we could have, and I wish this time limit on being able to do the additional protections for discrimination could be sooner, but that was the best deal that we could get.”
Cooper insisted “not only provides for LGBT protections, but opens the door for more,” even though no aspect of the new law prohibits discrimination against LGBT people. The governor said as part of the negotiations he was able to stop LGBT rights from coming up for a referendum in North Carolina or a “religious freedom” measure that would enable discrimination against LGBT people.
After having campaigned not only on HB2 repeal, but support for statewide LGBT non-discrimination protections, Cooper said a bill that would bar discrimination against LGBT people throughout North Carolina remains his goal.
“In a perfect world, we would have repealed HB2 today and added full statewide protections for LGBT North Carolinians,” Cooper said. “Unfortunately, our supermajority Republican legislature will not pass these protections. But this is an important goal that I will keep fighting for.”
The new law repeals HB2, but critics say it still enables discrimination. Section 1 bars state agencies, including cities and the University of North Carolina, from the “regulation of access” to multiple-occupancy restroom, showers or changing facilities except in accordance with the legislature, which essentially leaves transgender people seeking to use those facilities vulnerable to harassment or discrimination.
Section 2 prohibits municipalities from enacting ordinances on private employment or public accommodations, which would bar cities from passing LGBT non-discrimination measures in those areas. Section 3 of the bill would sunset that provision on Dec. 1, 2020.
Chris Sgro, executive director of Equality North Carolina, expressed displeasure on Twitter over after worked to elect Cooper to the governor’s office only to have sign the compromise.
Bitterly disappointed in a man I truly believed was the future of North Carolina https://t.co/EJIdj8xwTj #ncpol #ncga
— Chris Sgro (@cristoferosgro) March 30, 2017
In a rare criticism of Democrats, Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, denounced Cooper on Twitter, saying the governor was being misleading by saying he signed HB2 repeal.
.@RoyCooperNC taking credit for repealing #HB2. He did no such thing. Instead he signed new version of #HB2 and betrayed campaign promise.
— Chad Griffin (@ChadHGriffin) March 30, 2017
The outrage from LGBT advocates over Cooper signing the HB2 replacement is a far cry from their view of him last year when HB2 was first signed into law and Cooper, as North Carolina attorney general, announced he wouldn’t defend HB2 against legal challenges in court.
The deal was struck came in the same week the National Collegiate Athletic Association said it will make decisions on events. The NCAA has said North Carolina won’t be considered for championship events through 2022 “absent any change” to HB2. According to the Associated Press, North Carolina cities, schools and other groups have offered more than 130 bids for such events.
After Cooper signed the law, LGBT advocates — the North Carolina NAACP, the Human Rights Campaign, Equality North Carolina, the National Center for Transgender Equality and the Freedom Center for Social Justice — issued a joint statement calling on the NCAA to come out against the measure.
“We call on the NCAA to oppose this shameful HB2.0 bill in North Carolina, and not to reward lawmakers who have passed this so-called ‘deal’ which is an affront to the values we all hold,” the statement says. “This bill is anti-worker, anti-access to the courts, and anti-LGBTQ. It violates all basic principles of diversity, inclusion and basic civil rights. Fundamentally, any moratorium on civil rights is not a compromise, it is a contradiction with the principle of equal protection under the law and our moral values.”
The NCAA has yet to articulate publicly a position on the HB2 deal and whether it will now allow North Carolina to host championship games, although Cooper said during his news conference he expects sports games to return the state.
UPDATE: During a subsequent news conference, NCAA President Mark Emmert said a decision will come next week on whether the changes to HB2 are sufficient enough for the league to plan championship games in the state.
“I’m personally very pleased that they have a bill to debate and discuss,” Emmert said. “The politics of this in North Carolina are obviously very, very difficult. But they have passed a bill now and it will be a great opportunity for our board to sit and debate and discuss it.”
State Department
Protesters demand US fully restore PEPFAR funding
Activists blocked intersection outside State Department on Thursday

Dozens of HIV/AIDS activists on Thursday protested outside the State Department and demanded U.S. officials fully restore President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief funding.
The activists — members of Housing Works, Health GAP, and the Treatment Action Group — blocked an intersection for an hour. Health GAP Executive Director Asia Russell told the Washington Blade that police did not make any arrests.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Jan. 24 directed State Department personnel to stop nearly all U.S. foreign aid spending for 90 days in response to an executive order that President Donald Trump signed after his inauguration. Rubio later issued a waiver that allows PEPFAR and other “life-saving humanitarian assistance” programs to continue to operate during the freeze.
The Blade on Wednesday reported PEPFAR-funded programs in Kenya and other African countries have been forced to suspend services and even shut down because of a lack of U.S. funding.
“PEPFAR is a program that has saved 26 million lives and changed the trajectory of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic,” said Housing Works CEO Charles King in a press release. “The recent freeze on its funding is not just a bureaucratic decision; it is a death sentence for millions who rely on these life-saving treatments. We cannot allow decades of progress to be undone. The U.S. must immediately reaffirm its commitment to global health and human dignity by restoring PEPFAR funding.”
“We demand Secretary Rubio immediately reverse his deadly, illegal stop-work order, which has already disrupted life-saving HIV services worldwide,” added Russell. “Any waiver process is too little, too late.”
The White House
Trump bars trans women and girls from sports
The administration reversed course on the Biden-Harris policy on Title IX

President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued another executive order taking aim at the transgender community, this time focusing on eligibility for sports participation.
In a signing ceremony for “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” in the East Room of the White House, the president proclaimed “With this executive order, the war on women’s sports is over.”
Despite the insistence by Trump and Republicans that trans women and girls have a biological advantage in sports over cisgender women and girls, the research has been inconclusive, at best.
A study in the peer reviewed Sports Medicine journal found “no direct or consistent research” pointing to this conclusion. A different review in 2023 found that post-pubertal differences are “reduced, if not erased, over time by gender affirming hormone therapy.”
Other critics of efforts to exclude trans student athletes have pointed to the small number of people who are impacted. Charlie Baker, president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, testified last year that fewer than 10 of the NCAA’s 522,000+ student athletes identify as trans.
The Trump-Vance administration has reversed course from the Biden-Harris administration’s policy on Title IX rules barring sex-based discrimination.
“If you’re going to have women’s sports, if you’re going to provide opportunities for women, then they have to be equally safe, equally fair, and equally private opportunities, and so that means that you’re going to preserve women’s sports for women,” a White House official said prior to the issuance of the order.
Former President Joe Biden’s Title IX rules, which went into effect last year, clarified that pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020), sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The White House official indicated that the administration will consider additional guidance, regulations, and interpretations of Title IX, as well as exploring options to handle noncompliance by threatening federal funding for schools and education programs.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump “does expect the Olympic Committee and the NCAA to no longer allow men to compete in women’s sports.”
One of the first legislative moves by the new Congress last month was House Republicans’ passage of the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” which would ban trans women and girls from participating in competitive athletics.
The bill is now before the U.S. Senate, where Republicans have a three-seat majority but would need 60 votes to overcome the filibuster.
California
Los Angeles Blade names new publisher
Alexander Rodriguez brings deep media, business experience to outlet

The Los Angeles Blade, Southern California’s leading LGBTQ news outlet, today announced the appointment of a new publisher, Alexander Rodriguez.
Rodriguez has a long background in queer media, business development, and a deep commitment to the Los Angeles community. He has worked as a lead writer and podcast host for Metrosource Magazine and for GED Magazine; content director for FleshBot Gay; and as host and producer for the “On the Rocks” podcast. On the business side, Rodriguez spent years working in business development in the banking industry throughout Los Angeles. He also has an extensive background in event planning and management and has served on the boards of many LGBTQ non-profits. As a TV and radio personality, he has served as emcee for LGBTQ events around the nation.
“I’m excited to bring my diverse media and business experience to the Los Angeles Blade,” Rodriguez said. “We will continue the Blade’s mission of serving as our community’s news outlet of record during these challenging times and work toward building bridges within our community and beyond.”
Rodriguez starts in his new role on Monday, Feb. 3.
“We are thrilled to welcome Alexander to the Blade team,” said Kevin Naff, one of the owners of the Los Angeles Blade. “His multimedia and business side experience will help us grow the Blade in L.A. and continue our commitment to best-in-class journalism serving the LGBTQ community in Southern California.”
Rodriguez becomes the Los Angeles Blade’s second publisher following the unexpected death of founding publisher Troy Masters in December. Masters served in the role for nearly eight years. The community will come together for a celebration of Masters’s life on Monday, Feb. 10, 7-9 p.m. at the Abbey.
“Troy’s legacy is in good hands with Alexander at the helm alongside our new local news editor, Gisselle Palomera,” Naff added.
The Los Angeles Blade, launched in 2017, celebrates its eighth anniversary in March. It is the sister publication of the Washington Blade, founded in 1969, which offers unmatched coverage of queer political news and is the only LGBTQ outlet in the White House press pool and the White House Correspondents’ Association, and the only LGBTQ outlet with a dedicated seat in the White House briefing room.
Alexander Rodriguez can be reached at [email protected].
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