N.C. Governor Promises New LGBT Protections Through Executive Order

CHARLOTTE, NC -- North Carolina’s LGBT community will soon have new state-wide protections through an executive order, Gov. Roy Cooper said in a speech in Washington, D.C. Tuesday morning.

Cooper’s remarks, made during a May 16 address at the Center for American Progress, said he would soon be announcing the executive order, however he gave no detail about what those protections would be, The Charlotte Observer reported.

He also added that despite Supreme Court decision announced Monday to not hear an appeal aimed at reinstating North Carolina’s controversial voter ID law, state GOP lawmakers were expected to pass a bill in the next 10 days that would attempt to circumvent the court's ruling, the newspaper said.

Following the Supreme Court’s announcement Monday, N.C. Republican leaders pledged to continue to fight for “common sense voter ID.”

“North Carolina is an epicenter in the country for the fight for the right to vote,” Cooper said Tuesday, according to the Observer. “This General Assembly doesn’t stop. This was a temporary win yesterday.”

Earlier this week, Cooper lauded the Supreme Court decision to not hear the appeal case, which was put in motion in part because he withdrew the appeal request that had previously been submitted last year by then-Gov. Pat McCrory. “We need to make it easier to vote, not harder -- and the Court found this law sought to discriminate against African-American voters with ‘surgical precision,’” Cooper said May 15.

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Photo via Gov. Roy Cooper