This legal guide is designed to explain how North Carolina law affects gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered men and women in this state.  It also discusses what precautions individuals can take to protect themselves and where they may turn for help.  The guide was first published in 1986 by the North Carolina Human Rights Fund, with financial help from the Chicago Resource Center and the Fund for Southern Communities.  This edition, the seventh, has been revised by members of the North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Attorneys (NC GALA).

This legal guide is intended for use mainly by professionals and community workers who provide assistance to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people.  However, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people themselves may also use this guide, and so we address that audience as well. We also address the professional responsibility of attorneys who deal with GLBT clients and to what standards those clients should expect their attorneys to be held.

The civil rights issues addressed in this guide are relevant to anyone suffering from homophobic discrimination.  It is common for people who are mistakenly suspected or rumored to be homosexual to suffer the same discrimination as those who are homosexual.  Thus, this guide applies to any victim of anti-GLBT discrimination: gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered people; those who act on their sexual orientation and those who are abstinent; people who are gay or lesbian and people who are heterosexual but simply appear to be “different” in some way. 

This guide should never be considered a substitute for legal advice from an attorney, since individual cases are rarely straightforward or routine.  If a legal problem arises, talk with an attorney before you try to handle the situation yourself.  People who do not know the law can jeopardize their cases by saying or doing something ill-advised.

NC GALA can refer you to lawyers throughout North Carolina. (See the NC GALA website at www.ncgala.org.)  You can also contact the Southern Regional Office of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. (1447 Peachtree Street, NE, Suite 1004, Atlanta, GA 30309, 404-897-1880) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (870 Market Street, Suite 370, San Francisco, CA  94102, 415-392-8442).

We often hear that Americans, particularly Southerners, have little tolerance for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people.  However, the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Lawrence v. Texas recognized a right to privacy in private sexual matters between two consenting adults, regardless of their sexual orientation.  Later the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court mandated that same-sex marriage must be granted in that state. These were historic steps forward for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people.

We are also heartened that in some cases North Carolina juries have been very quick to award substantial damages to individuals who suffer from homophobic discrimination.  In 1982 a federal jury in Charlotte awarded $80,000 for false arrest and malicious prosecution to a man who was arrested in a crackdown on “homosexual activity” in Charlotte’s Freedom Park.  In 1983 a Buncombe County jury found that Asheville’s police chief was unjustified in firing a police officer who admitted soliciting his male roommate to engage in oral sex.  In 1985 a federal jury in Elizabeth City awarded $420,000 to a Pasquotank County social worker who was fired for allegedly making “romantic overtures” to her female boss.  There also have been many convictions in North Carolina against people who have physically attacked gay men and lesbians. 

Still, prejudicial attitudes remain, and they, too, are reflected in the cases and laws in the following pages.  Although the law can be used to help gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered North Carolinians, too often individuals do not know how to protect themselves from the worst effects of discrimination. 

Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people will be second-class citizens as long as the public and elected officials do not understand the problems they face.  The only way to fight discrimination is to take action, to complain to those responsible or to higher authorities.  If you believe you are suffering as a result of such discrimination, call one of the resources listed at the end of this guide. 

We have done our best to avoid errors, but some may appear anyway.  In addition, there will certainly be changes in the law (this edition reflects cases and statutory changes through 2004).  If you find any mistakes or have any helpful comments, please write NC GALA at 400 W. Main St., Ste 501, Durham, NC, 27701.  We have a commitment to revise this guide periodically, and your feedback is vital to us.

Edited Fall 2004 by: