LGBTQ community organizations will host their annual forum for candidates for Charlotte mayor and at-large council on Monday, Aug. 21, 6-10 p.m., at the Charlotte Marriott City Center, 100 W. Trade St., in Uptown Charlotte. The event is presented by the Mecklenburg LGBTQ Political Action Committee (MeckPAC) and Charlotte Pride, in partnership with Democracy North Carolina, Equality North Carolina and the Human Rights Campaign.
The Charlotte LGBTQ Community Candidate Forum is the largest opportunity for local members of the LGBTQ community to learn more about where their candidates and elected officials stand on issues of importance. This year's forum takes on a more important role for this year's elections, especially in the aftermath of HB2 and increased scrutiny on a variety of local issues, including affordable housing and criminal justice reform.
The event will be co-moderated by longtime, Durham-based activist Mandy Carter, who began her advocacy career at the 1968 Southern Christian Leadership Conference's Poor People's Campaign. Carter is a co-founder of Southerners on New Ground, founded in North Carolina as an intersectional social justice and capacity building organization focusing on LGBTQ people living in the South. Carter will be joined as co-moderator by Matt Comer, a MeckPAC board member and a former editor of QNotes, Charlotte's LGBTQ community newspaper.
Candidates confirmed to participate thus far include mayoral candidates Jennifer Roberts and Vi Lyles, as well as several at-large city council candidates.
The event is one of several high-profile events leading up to this year's Charlotte Pride Festival and Parade, scheduled for Aug. 26-27.
“Pride is the perfect time for our community to express not only pride in who we are, but also their sense of civic pride,” said MeckPAC Chair Jamie Hildreth. “There’s no better way to show both civic and LGBTQ pride than taking advantage of our rights to vote and becoming more educated on where your candidates stand.”
Charlotte Pride Board of Directors President Craig Hopkins said it was important for local community members to have this opportunity for increased civic involvement.
“Charlotte Pride envisions a world in which LGBTQ people are able to fully participate in the civic life of their local communities,” Hopkins said. “We can’t imagine a better way to make this vision a reality than partnering with local and regional organizations in order to empower local community members to become better educated on their voting rights and the candidates who seek to represent them.”
The candidate forum will begin at 7 p.m. on Aug. 21, preceded by a reception with candidates and community members from 6-7 p.m. A post-forum reception will also be held for continued conversation with candidates.
Past forums for both city and county races have attracted hundreds of attendees. The forum is the largest civic event each year targeting the electoral and voting involvement of the local LGBTQ community.
ABOUT MECKPAC:
The Mecklenburg LGBTQ Political Action Committee (MeckPAC) is a non-partisan, non-profit organization registered with the North Carolina State Board of Elections. Our mission is to mobilize the LGBT community and its many allies in Charlotte/Mecklenburg to vote and participate in city/county elections, to educate city/county elected officials about issues of importance to the LGBT community, and to hold city/county elected officials accountable for their votes on such issues. MeckPAC’s local work is crucial to achieving full equality and complements our collaborations with other local, statewide and national organizations. Learn more at meckpac.org.
ABOUT CHARLOTTE PRIDE:
Charlotte Pride is the leader in LGBTQ visibility in Charlotte and the Carolinas. We present and collaborate on programs, projects, and activities, including the annual Charlotte Pride Festival and Parade, Trans Pride, Latin Pride, and Reel Out Charlotte, formerly known as the GayCharlotte Film Festival, among others. Since its founding in 2000, Charlotte Pride has expanded its year-round programming and partnerships to better connect community members with its mission, vision, and values. It is now one of the largest LGBTQ Pride organizations in the American Southeast. Learn more at charlottepride.org.
