Likely NC House speaker Tim Moore criticized for trying to defund UNC gay group in 1992

Rep. Tim Moore won’t become state House speaker until later this month, but he’s already catching heat for actions he took while speaker of another legislative body 22 years ago.

In 1992, the Republican from Kings Mountain was a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill and speaker of the university’s Student Congress. He was seeking to strip funds from the Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association, which received a few thousand dollars annually from student fees.

Moore was asked about the old controversy in a recent Associated Press interview, and he stood by his actions.

“At the heart of the issue was the belief that we shouldn’t use taxpayer dollars or student fees to fund a gay and lesbian group, as well as a lot of other groups for that matter,” he told AP.

Gay rights activists were quick to respond.

“It’s a concerning sign,” Equality North Carolina director Chris Sgro told Q Notes, an LGBT publication. “We’re at a place in the history of North Carolina where we’ve achieved marriage equality. ... What’s unfortunate here is that Moore is caught up in pandering to his base. That’s not what he should be doing if he wants to show real leadership ability for the state of North Carolina.”

A 1992 News & Observer article reported that Moore got called a “gay basher” and “fascist” as he made his third attempt to defund the gay group. “The time is now for the students to speak on it,” he said at the time. “Mostly what I’ve heard is total disgust that they receive funds.”

A fellow member of UNC’s Student Congress told the paper that Moore’s efforts created “the most divisive, tense meeting I’ve ever seen.”

This story was originally published January 5, 2015 at 4:27 PM with the headline "Likely NC House speaker Tim Moore criticized for trying to defund UNC gay group in 1992."