Mother Jones - The Little-Known Movers Behind North Carolina's Anti-Gay Law: Ted Cruz's Advisers

[Miles Archer]

The Little-Known Movers Behind North Carolina's Anti-Gay Law: Ted Cruz's Advisers

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/04/ted-cruz-advisers-north-carolina-anti-lgbt-bill



Charlotte anti-LGBT activists David and Jason Benham

As he worked to rally evangelical voters a week before North Carolina's March 15 primary, Ted Cruz gave a speech at a church in the Charlotte suburb of Kannapolis, where he was joined by a trio of prominent local social conservative supporters: Charlotte pastor and congressional candidate Mark Harris and the Benham brothers, the telegenic real estate entrepreneurs whose house-flipping show on HGTV was canceled in 2014 when their history of anti-gay activism came to light. At the event, Cruz thanked Harris for "calling the nation to revival," and called David and Jason Benham "an extraordinary voice for the Christian faith."

For years, Harris and the Benhams have been at the forefront of every battle to oppose gay rights in North Carolina. This past February, they were at it again, this time against a nondiscrimination ordinance proposed in Charlotte that, among other things, allowed transgender people to use public restrooms based on their gender identity and protected LGBT people from discrimination by public institutions. The advocacy of these top Cruz supporters against the Charlotte ordinance eventually led the North Carolina legislature to push through one of the most sweeping anti-LGBT measures in the country, a law that has caused a national outcry and caused many companies, including PayPal, to scrap plans to invest in the state. The law, the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, strikes down all existing and future LGBT nondiscrimination statutes in North Carolina and requires that transgender people use bathrooms based on their sex at birth.

Harris' and the Benhams' state activism is significant because, if Cruz wins the presidential race, the considerable influence of these three religious activists could extend far beyond North Carolina. In February, Cruz appointed them to his campaign's advisory council for religious liberty, along with 16 other conservative Christian leaders. The GOP candidate has promised that this group will "guide his policies to protect religious liberty"—policies that could look very much like the anti-LGBT bill in North Carolina. The group is filled with key players in the anti-LGBT world, including Tony Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council (which is classified as an anti-LGBT hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center); it has already recommended that Cruz, if elected president, should stop federal employment discrimination protections for LGBT people, direct federal agencies to change their interpretation of "sex" to exclude sexual orientation and gender identity, cancel the mandate that employers provide contraceptive coverage, and much more. Cruz has surrounded himself with this group of anti-LGBT heavyweights, and the work of Harris and the Benhams in North Carolina provides a glimpse into what this group can accomplish when it comes to rolling back LGBT protections in the name of religious freedom.

Harris and the Benhams first rose to prominence in 2012, when they helped organize the movement to pass a North Carolina constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages and civil unions. The Benhams—who are sons of an evangelical minister, and who had previously worked to quash local pride parades and organize anti-abortion protests—testified in favor of the measure and at one point equated the battle against marriage equality with fighting Nazis. Harris has been a well-known Baptist minister in Charlotte since 2005 and his church contributed more than $50,000 to the campaign to ban same-sex marriage. (The amendment passed but was invalidated in 2014 after a Supreme Court ruling.)

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[2naSalit]

2. Wasn't that illegal?

Harris has been a well-known Baptist minister in Charlotte since 2005 and his church contributed more than $50,000 to the campaign to ban same-sex marriage. (The amendment passed but was invalidated in 2014 after a Supreme Court ruling.)

[mnhtnbb]

3. This is not surprising to me. Cruz did very well in the primary here against Trump

and Cruz is notoriously anti-LGBT.

These right wing fundie evangelical bigots would love to see an Inquisition with LGBT people as their targets.
They are dangerous. Very dangerous.

[SoapBox]

4. Time to drag these creeps from the shadows and expose them

to not only America but the world.

Then let's see how bold they are.

[WestSeattle2]

5. The Cruz freak show train is crazier than the clown car he's currently driving. Every election, the

Republican party gets even more insane. When the majority of your party's candidates are certifiably insane, perhaps it's time to call it a day and start over.

[Democat]

6. Still no difference between Republicans and Democrats?

This is another reason why we must all support the Democratic candidate whether it's Sanders or Clinton.

Unless you don't care about transgender, gay, and lesbian Americans.

[Ford_Prefect]

7. Not all Democrats have been as supportive as you'd expect. You might want to read a bit more

about who's on board and who's just been fronting to get the votes.

[Democat]

8. Ask a gay friend whether they'd like to live under Ted Cruz or Trump

Clinton or Sanders might, at the worst, keep the status quo.

Cruz and Trump will do everything in their power to move backwards on gay rights.

[Ford_Prefect]

9. Its a broader question than that as to who will actually produce policy we want versus who will let

the crisis continue. My sister wanted Clinton but changed her mind when she dug into her policy history. No One I know well wants or accepts the idea of Cruz, Trump or any other clown. ALL of us need the best president. If you think you are alone in this you might better take a closer look at your neighbors.

I live in NC and have seen this dance go on for a long time. The creeps in Charlotte who organized this got substantial cash, organizational guidance and the language in HB2 from the Koch machine. Same outfit that is driving this movement in other states as well.

[AxionExcel]

10. ISIS Clones -- Toxic TeaBagger XtioFascist Style (R)

...just starting to get pumped up...for The XXXX Cruzade (R - Purity Squad)