Social Justice & Equality
I believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every North Carolinian. Our laws should promote equality and justice regardless of who we are or who we love.
LGBTQ Issues
I will fight for a full repeal of HB2. Last year, the General Assembly sold North Carolinians a bill of goods, undercutting basic human rights and protections for workers in exchange for a sports games. While this compromise may have been palatable to Raleigh insiders and corporate interests, we won’t be fooled. If we truly want to lead the region as a magnet for talent, business, and culture we must repeal HB2 and enshrine public accommodations and civil rights protections for LGBTQ people into state law.
I will also fight to add sexual orientation and gender expression to the classes protected under North Carolina's Civil Rights Statute.
Reproductive Rights
I believe that the government should never come between a woman and her doctor. Women need to be trusted to make their own medical and reproductive decisions free from interference by men in the General Assembly. As your state representative I will:
Fight for and defend a woman’s right to access a full range of reproductive healthcare services, including abortions
Support Governor Cooper’s veto and stop the Republican assault on non-partisan healthcare providers such as Planned Parenthood
Increase funding for comprehensive and inclusive sexual education in public schools
I am a proud supporter of the #MeToo movement. I believe the courageous women who have come forward to share their stories about a critical problem that has permeated all aspects of society. To combat and eradicate this abusive behavior, we need to change not only our laws and office policies, but also our culture. We need to get past the idea of “No means no” to “Yes means yes” and make affirmative consent the norm. We must also reform the process for reporting harassment in the General Assembly so that nobody falls through the cracks.
I want to work in the legislature to make all people feel safe and respected in North Carolina, and I will be ready to confront these issues on day one.
Equal Pay for Equal Work
In North Carolina, the pay gap remains a barrier for women. On average, women in North Carolina earn roughly 80% of what men do for the same work. This gap is even wider for women of color. We must address the racial and gender wage gap with a holistic approach to economic justice, such as:
Banning companies from requesting a salary history as a condition of employment. This practice allows businesses to undercut workers by conditioning their offer on past compensation, and not the true value of their labor
Require publicly traded companies to disclose the median compensation for men and women at each level of the organization, from entry level to executive officers
Prohibit corporations from using no-compete clauses for unskilled labor. These artificial constraints on the labor market limit opportunities and disproportionately affect women of color
