Chapel Hill restores LGBTQ+, equity web pages. Ex-mayor says MAGA won’t ‘be fooled.’
Chapel Hill Mayor Jess Anderson apologized Wednesday evening to anyone who experienced “confusion or concern” when key racial equity and LGBTQ+ pages on the town’s website were “turned off.”
The pages, which also included other information like employee appreciation news and years-old reports about how to better use town properties, were turned back on by midday Wednesday.
But the comparison to what’s happening across the country in response to the Trump administration’s orders this year removing racial equity, diversity and inclusion, and LGBTQ mentions from federal websites had already been made.
The scrubbing of websites has spread since January to schools and universities and earlier this month led the U.S. Park Service to remove a webpage about the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, a human rights leader who grew up in Durham.
Chapel Hill residents who saw the changes to the town’s website reached out this week to Triangle Blog Blog, an online forum for local news and politics. TBB first reported the changes Wednesday morning.
Archiving web pages about the LGBTQ+ community’s successes “sends the wrong signal to them as well as to other marginalized communities” at a time when they are under attack, Anderson said in a Facebook post.
“The Town of Chapel Hill is committed to being a safe, welcoming, and supportive community for all. This includes protecting and celebrating communities whose very existence others call into question,” she said.
Residents torch town decision
Orange County Clerk of Superior Court Mark Kleinschmidt, who served as the town’s mayor from 2009 to 2015, shared the news on his Facebook page, saying he “never thought I could be as hurt, ashamed, and disappointed in the town than I am today.”
Kleinschmidt, who is gay, noted how the town’s appointment of Joe Herzenberg to the council in 1979 and his election in 1987 and 1991 “was a clarion call to LGBTQ people across the South.” Herzenberg, who died in 2007, was the South’s first openly gay elected official.
Kleinschmidt rejected the town’s defense, that those pages and others were turned off after an update identified them as generating very little website traffic.
“We know what this is about,” Kleinschmidt wrote. “It’s a short-sighted, prophylactic attempt to distance Chapel Hill from its reputation for being a welcoming, inclusive, equality-minded community. I have news for you Chapel Hill, the MAGA movement isn’t going to be fooled into believing you share their values just because you turn-off a few pages on your website.”
Several residents echoed Kleinschmidt’s remarks in their emails Wednesday to the Chapel Hill Town Council.
“I am dismayed and disappointed to learn that you have capitulated to MAGA and Trump and scrubbed your website of information related to racial equality and LGBTQ history among other things,” attorney James E. Williams Jr. said in an email. “I don’t for a minute believe that crap about not getting enough clicks or visits. Your concession is a gift to those who are moving this country toward fascism and white nationalism.”
Manager says pages got few views
Public emails show the council learned about the changes Tuesday, when Town Manager Mary Jane Nirdlinger shared an update and a list of 17 pages that had been turned off while a contractor determined what should be improved, what to keep and what to archive.
The goal is to make the town’s website less clunky and easier for the public to navigate, Nirdlinger said. Department leaders will review the content recommended for archiving, as well as content that should be kept or improved, she said.
All of the identified pages had fewer than 500 views over a 12-month period, she said.
Government websites can be slow to load and difficult to navigate partly because they store vast amounts of information, according to a blog hosted by CGS Web Designs.
The information also may be complex — like Chapel Hill’s years-long discussion about its coal ash dump or the Legion Road park and affordable housing site — or the system hosting the website may use outdated technology and have limited maintenance resources, the blog author noted.
On Wednesday, Nirdlinger emailed the council after the TBB story was posted to say the affected pages had been turned back on. No more pages will be turned off until the town launches the updated website later this year, she said.
“Our intent was to improve our current site while building our new site,” Nirdlinger said. “We also recognize that context matters and, in this moment fraught with political uncertainty, our actions carry extra weight.”
The information added back Wednesday will remain on the website after the update, Anderson said, and the council and staff will talk about “about how we navigate these challenging times, including how we ensure that our support and commitment to our values is always clear.”
“We are grateful to the many members of our community who quickly spoke up in support of the values we all stand for,” she added.
NC Reality Check is an N&O series holding those in power accountable and shining a light on public issues that affect the Triangle or North Carolina. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@newsobserver.com
This story was originally published March 19, 2025 at 4:53 PM.
