Sixty rally for LGBT employment equality in Asheville
According to an article in the Asheville Citizen-Times, about sixty people gathered in a park in Asheville yesterday in support of a lesbian couple victim to anti-LGBT employment discrimination (Past post: “Discrimination against gay Asheville couple shows need for anti-discrimination laws“)
The couple, Laurel Scherer and Virginia Balfour, claim that Wolf Laurel Ski Area terminated Scherer’s job as the resort’s photographer becuase of her sexual orientation.
The rally was organized by the North Carolina and Asheville chapters of NOW, the National Organization for Women, and called for North Carolina pass laws protecting people from discrimination based upon sexual orientation.
According to the article:
Scherer and Balfour say that Wolf Laurel Ski Area in Madison County ended an oral agreement with Scherer’s photography business, All Terrain Images, to take pictures of skiers because the couple got married in Massachusetts in October and ran a wedding announcement in the Citizen-Times on Nov. 6.
Wolf Laurel Ski Area owner Orville English has declined to comment on the couple’s allegations. In January, co-owner Rick Bussey said Wolf Laurel is a family-oriented resort.
“It’s not wise for us to get in a verbal battle,” Bussey told the Citizen-Times.
The support has been fantastic,” said Scherer, who spoke at the event. “The issue just touches people in a deep way … people have to work for a living.”
The couple’s story, including Saturday’s rally, is being documented by LOGO, a new basic cable channel aimed at gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender viewers. The network, owned by MTV, began airing last year and is available locally on Charter Digital Cable.
The protest rally also introduced a new Asheville social organization, People for Employment Equality for Gays and Lesbians.
Scherer said the organization was formed by a group of people as a direct response to her being fired as a photographer for the Wolf Laurel Ski Area.
The organization’s mission is to add sexual orientation as a part of the state’s anti-discrimination laws.
The article also points out that Asheville passed an anti-discrimination measure for city hiring practices in 2000. That measure included sexual orientation.
The City may be dealing with LGBT equality issues again soon. One of the City Councilmembers will be proposing a domextic-partner program for city employees.Â
======
Hopefully this new organization will kick off and become one that can really change things. In order to do that though, People for Employment Equality for Gays and Lesbians will need to work with already established groups in the state including Equality NC, MeckPAC, HRC Carolinas and Triad Equality Alliance.
I hope Scherer and Balfour eventually “win their case” and in the process, make life better for all LGBT North Carolinians.
Technorati Tags: gay rights, gay, lgbt, gay rights, employment discrimination, people for employment equality for gays and lesbians, asheville, north carolina
Matt, 22, is an LGBT journalist, activist and youth advocate currently living and working in Charlotte, N.C., where he serves as the Editor of Q-Notes, the Carolinas' LGBT news source. A native of Winston-Salem, N.C., Matt attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is still continuing to pursue his bachelors degree. He is the Owner & Editor of InterstateQ.com and has been active in LGBT advocacy work since the age of 14.
View all posts by Matt