Nathaniel Dibble (he/him) is a nineteen year old, queer member of the Raleigh community, and a student of Political Science at NC State University. He became interested in politics and activism in his early teens because of the discrimination and injustice that exists in our communities. Nathaniel frequently volunteers with Down Home NC and Equality NC to take action in his local community.
Nathaniel spoke to City Council on September 12, 2023:
Good evening to the Council and thank you for your time. I’m here as a member of the voting public, a constituent of Corey Branch in District C, and as a queer adult. I’d like to spend my three minutes up here talking about last month’s legislation in the General Assembly and how it relates to what we expect of you as citizens of Raleigh.
Last month, the General Assembly passed veto overrides of five bills, three in particular which I came to speak about.
The first is House Bill 8081, which banned gender-affirming care for minors. Not only does this law ban practices that are accepted by all major medical organizations, but it also threatens the First Amendment rights of those doctors who attempt to refer their patients to other doctors. Meanwhile, it enables the practice of surgeries performed on infants that are identified as intersex at birth, who are‒needless to say‒non-consenting individuals.
They also passed House Bill 5742, which prevents transgender athletes from participating in sports as the gender they identify as, during the entirety of their twelve-year education, as well as on the college level. This was passed despite ample, peer-reviewed evidence suggesting that, really, transgender athletes don’t pose a risk to cisgender athletes in physicality or in opportunity.
Finally, they passed North Carolina’s Don’t Say Gay law, which chokes out the voices of queer adults and children alike in a public school setting. This law endangers all students, queer and otherwise, by putting their home lives at risk, and destroys public schools as a safe place for students.
Make no mistake. These laws will kill people in our communities.
I know, largely, your hands are legally tied in fighting these laws. From what I can tell, preemption stops you from actively opposing these laws and, even if it didn’t, a lot of this falls outside of your legal jurisdiction anyway. However, I implore you to consider what you can do.
The City of Raleigh’s non-discrimination ordinance states that, “The City will not tolerate illegal discrimination and encourages its corporate and individual community partners to oppose discrimination in all forms. All citizens of the City, individual and corporate, are hereby requested and urged to use their power and influence to the end that this City shall be one of equal opportunity for all citizens.”
The City of Raleigh needs to stand by their non-discrimination ordinance and uphold their promise of opposing discrimination in all forms. Even if that form comes from state legislatures. What I’m asking you to do is to work on an official statement, from the Raleigh City Council, that condemns the passage of anti-LGBTQ and other discriminatory laws. You need to make it clear that the legislation passed is not representative of what North Carolinians want or what its municipalities want. This statement needs to affirm the importance of gender-affirming care in saving the lives of the youth in our community. It needs to uphold the importance of social and competitive play in sports. It needs to back up the importance of a complete and inclusive education that doesn’t alienate an entire community.
Not only that, but it needs to place action and reassurance behind those words. There will be those that are encouraged by the slate of hate that was passed. Those that see their state representatives say “these are the people we shouldn’t include in everyday life,” and realize, “hey… it’s ok to say this now. It is ok for me to say that you don’t belong and you don’t get a voice. It’s ok to discriminate now.” I contend that the discrimination and hate we will see on an individual level, and not just a systematic level, will increase by an incredible amount in the coming weeks. We will see this increase in our public institutions and programs, as well as in private businesses, and street-level harassment. The City of Raleigh needs to provide its vulnerable citizens with the resources necessary to counteract any potential social consequences from this hate.
In response to this, I’m asking that Raleigh publicize a complaint process for those that experience discrimination in ways covered by your non-discrimination policy. More people need to know where they can turn to and who will be supporting them. I’d be happy to speak with you individually on different ways this can be done, but I believe that a good start is pushing a guide to the complaint process to be within one click from the main City of Raleigh website. Additionally, this guide should be available in multiple languages to eliminate language barriers as much as possible. This complaint process should also be promoted in any official declaration that is made by this Council.
The queer community in Raleigh needs your support. They need protection from those that sympathize with anti-gay, anti-trans, anti-queer bigotry. I’m asking each of you to please take on the effort of looking into the ways you can best do that and I’m asking that you reach out to queer constituents and organizations that represent your queer constituents. All I ask is that you do not let hate thrive in North Carolina.
What Can You Do? – Pass an official declaration.
In response to H.B. 8081‒ This law is a blatant attack on bodily autonomy, the medical freedom of a family, the First Amendment rights of doctors, and on healthcare as a whole. It determines what is and what is not allowed as a valid form of healthcare. Not only that, but it also harms intersex individuals by reinforcing their subjection to “corrective” surgeries from birth. Denounce this law as the attack on healthcare and transfolk that it is.
In response to H.B. 5742‒ This law makes sure that transgender women are prevented from participating in sports alongside all other women in public institutions. This law was lobbied for by hate groups, as were these other three laws, and actively targets the one transgender woman athlete that is in the North Carolina public school system. It is not based in fact or the most up-to-date scientific studies. At the same time, this law does nothing to actually protect women’s sports from the systematic harassment and discrimination that occurs within the system. This law should be condemned as a way to divide transgender people from public involvement and visibility and Raleigh should announce a commitment to real safety in women’s sports.
In response to the Don’t Say Gay law‒ This is an attack on our public schools and came right alongside a law that took funding away from our public schools and placed it in charter schools. This law actively endangers students by forcing teachers and staff to send students to their potentially unsupportive and abusive families. Not only that, but it also erased queer people from history lessons and denies their place in our modern society. While it is still unclear how this will be implemented in our schools, the City must still decry this attack on the LGBTQ+ community, just like with this other legislation.
Make it clear that discrimination continues to be prohibited. The City must take more action to prevent discrimination in Raleigh businesses and any discrimination that may take place in its public works. This strong message will improve the outlook and hopes of your LGBTQ+ constituents, as well as send a message to the legislature that this is not what North Carolina wants. Other school boards and municipalities have already sent similar declarations and it is important that Raleigh be a part of this united front.
Promote the complaint process. The complaint process that supports your non-discrimination ordinance should be included in the official declaration against anti-queer legislation. It needs to be more visible to everyone in the Raleigh community, but especially those groups that are coming under attack most at this time. It should also be easily accessible. This means it should be one click away from the main City website, and should be available in both Spanish and English, at the very least.
I’d be happy to continue this conversation with any of you that are taking the issues of equity and mental health in our schools seriously. I welcome all emails and questions at nadibble03@gmail.com
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