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Mayfield: Compromise Vote Would Have Told Transgender People They're Not Worthy

Courtesy of Lawana Mayfield

Charlotte City Council’s meeting Monday night over whether to include LGBT people in the city’s non-discrimination law evoked strong comments from the public and Council members. The proposal failed 6-5.

"I don’t think tonight’s vote is about solving a problem. I think it’s about promoting a political agenda," Republican Councilman Kenny Smith said before casting his vote against the measure. "I think if it's passed, it will be a clear message to the city that the City Council has voted to impose the progressive left's view of morality on the majority of our citizens."

Another council member who voted against the measure was LaWana Mayfield. Her vote may surprise some because she’s an openly gay member of Council. She voted no because the final proposal had stripped out a controversial requirement that would have allowed transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice.

In this interview, Mayfield tells WFAE's Sarah Delia that voting yes on the compromise "would have been compromising on all of the friends, the neighbors, those in the community that do identify as transgender…that would be telling them ‘You’re not worthy to be part of this fight with right now.’ ”

Sarah Delia is a Senior Producer for Charlotte Talks with Mike Collins. Sarah joined the WFAE news team in 2014. An Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, Sarah has lived and told stories from Maine, New York, Indiana, Alabama, Virginia and North Carolina. Sarah received her B.A. in English and Art history from James Madison University, where she began her broadcast career at college radio station WXJM. Sarah has interned and worked at NPR in Washington DC, interned and freelanced for WNYC, and attended the Salt Institute for Radio Documentary Studies.