Founded 1979 Website equalitync.org | Area served North Carolina | |
 | ||
Location Raleigh, North Carolina Key people Chris Sgro, executive director Formerly called North Carolina Human Rights Fund | ||
Equality North Carolina (or Equality NC, or ENC) is the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights advocacy group and political lobbying organization in North Carolina and is the oldest statewide LGBT equality organization in the United States.
Contents
Structure
Equality NC is an umbrella group of two separate non-profit corporations and a political action committee: Equality NC Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization that provides educational programming on LGBT issues and conducts comprehensive campaigns to build public support for equal rights, Equality NC, a 501(c)(4) organization that conducts lobbying and advocacy efforts, and Equality NC PAC, a political action committee which works to elect fair-minded candidates. These organizations all work to secure equal rights and justice for LGBT North Carolinians.
The organization is a member of the Equality Federation.
Leadership
Equality NC's leadership includes Executive Director Chris Sgro. Equality NC's work is supported by three boards: the Equality NC Board, the Equality NC Foundation Board, and Equality NC Action Fund Working Group. All three boards are composed of volunteers from across North Carolina.
History
Equality NC began in 1979 and originally was called the North Carolina Human Rights Fund. It was eventually named Equality North Carolina in 2002, when the board agreed they needed a parent organization to manage the work and to link all the smaller foundations together.
Success
ENC's Matthew Shephard Memorial Act issued in 1999 became the first pro-gay bill ever voted on in the North Carolina House of Representatives, although it ended up losing by ten votes. In 2004, ENC succeeded in blocking a constitutional amendment prohibiting lesbian and gay marriages. Equality NC PAC also managed to get Senator Julia Boseman, the first openly gay state legislator in North Carolina, elected in 2004.
The organization was successful in getting the 2008 edition of the State Personnel manual to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In the summer of 2007, they petitioned to the state, requesting that it allow lesbians and gays, when hospitalized, to be visited by their partners if they wish. The new permission was approved, and allowed to take effect beginning on May 1, 2008. However, the rule only allows gay partners to visit their loved ones; it does not allow them to make any medical decisions for them.
ENC endorsed James A. Wynn, Jr. for re-election to the Court of Appeals in March 2008.