The NAACP's Rev. William Barber led HB2 detractors Monday in a series of protests that continued throughout the day at North Carolina's state house in Raleigh. At least 54 protesters were arrested throughout the day: 18 for “building violations,” and 36 for occupying the building after hours.
A rally in support of HB2 also took place outside the building and was reportedly larger than the rally opposing the anti-LGBT law. The law’s supporters were brought in by the busload from churches.
At one rally, after church buses ferried supporters from places like Thomasville and Rural Hall, thousands of people, many of them in lawn chairs, heard speaker after speaker praise the measure.
But it was the anti-HB2 protesters who put their bodies on the line with arrestable actions, and that energy, that commitment is worth a hell of a lot more than raw numbers in the course of social change. Check out the footage below.
One anti-HB2 protester reflected on this moment of social change:
“The religious right has always been there, but it just seems we’re living in a context now, in the national political discussion, where hateful bigotry is allowed to stand loud and proud in public,” Barbara Zelter said while she considered whether she would stay long enough to be arrested at a sit-in later Monday, when 54 protesters were arrested after chanting inside the General Assembly’s building.
Ms. Zelter, 66, conceded that her display of outrage was unlikely to produce quick results.
“How social movements change things,” she said, “is by changing the wind, changing the culture.”
Here’s how the night ended ...