Gina Kentopp: Legislators shouldn’t preach

How blessed I was by Terence K. Leathers’ March 11 Point of View “Building a beloved community.”

As the mother of a transmale, I was so happy to see a pastor speaking for a non-gendered and non-racially biased justice system that protects the rights and dignity of everyone.

Our legislature is considering calling a special session of $42,000 per day due to the Charlotte ordinance that was passed. House Speaker Tim Moore said, “The House is unwilling to put a price tag on public safety.” What an ignorant statement! And a knee-jerk reaction that is based on fear and unwillingness to have cultural awareness.

It is amazing that allowing transgender people (it is not allowing men into women’s restrooms) bathroom access of their identified gender is so important that we must have a special session at taxpayer expense, but we couldn’t get a budget passed for months!

Government officials need to understand that they serve the people, not just the people they share religious or cultural ideals with.

The people of North Carolina did not elect them to be their pastor. There’s plenty of those to go around. And thank God there are some such as Leathers.

This story was originally published March 21, 2016 at 5:01 PM with the headline "Gina Kentopp: Legislators shouldn’t preach."