Charlotte NC LGBT Anti-Discrimination Leader Revealed As Registered Sex Offender

LGBT anti-discrimination in the Charlotte, North Carolina, bathrooms battle has taken a strange turn. It has been revealed that Chad Severance-Turner, leading spokesperson for the LGBT community in Charlotte, is a registered sex offender. Severance-Turner was convicted in 2000 after working as a church music minister, apparently for the purpose of seducing and fondling teenage boys. His crime was fondling a 14-year-old boy in his sleep after attempting to seduce several boys with pornographic materials, as reported in Go Upstate.

LGBT anti-discrimination groups took a major hit as Charlotte, North Carolina, sex offender Chad Severance-Turner, the leading spokesperson for the local anti-discrimination group, has been exposed. Chad has other aliases listed on his sex offender registration sheet, which adds to the suspicions of opponents in the bathrooms battle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9erQGZoZIw

The registered sex offender’s record is very harmful to the cause of LGBT anti-discrimination groups. For this reason, Chad has agreed to step down as the LGBT Charlotte Business Guild leader, following local right wing media’s exposure of his crimes. The group, commonly referred to as the “LGBT Chamber of Commerce,” has taken the lead in Charlotte bathroom battles. Severance-Turner apparently hid among the other activists, though his record was not hidden. His profile on the North Carolina Department of Safety website is, by law, a matter of public record.

The Charlotte Observer reports on Tammy Fitzgerald of the “N.C. Values Coalition’s” statement, based on the revelation of the sex offender status of the LGBT Business Guild leader.

“Any supposed evidence provided by the group is discredited.”

While LGBT anti-discrimination credibility being entirely destroyed over one incident might be an overstatement, Chad Severance-Turner failed to make his point because of his history. Exposure as a pedophile supports the position of his opponents, that pedophiles could gain access to public restrooms, presumably for the purpose of sexual assault. Safety in public restrooms has been an issue in the state, though mostly in the highway system public rest areas.

The LGBT anti-discrimination bathroom argument, both nationwide and in Charlotte, North Carolina, states that sexual attacks in bathrooms are a myth, and that sexual predators among the LGBT community are also a myth, so what happens to their myth busting when a proven predator is found among them? It is highly discrediting to the group, all of whom had the same access to sex offender records as conservative reporters did. Perhaps it is a matter of better policing their group, especially their spokespeople.

Already, the LGBT anti-discrimination bathroom legislation is meeting with a lot of powerful opposition. North Carolina governor and former mayor of Charlotte, Pat McCrory, strongly opposes the ordinance to allow LGBT community members to choose freely which bathroom best suits their individual needs, as reported on Think Progress.

“This shift in policy could also create major public safety issues by putting citizens in possible danger from deviant actions by individuals taking improper advantage of a bad policy. Also, this action of allowing a person with male anatomy, for example, to use a female restroom or locker room will most likely cause immediate State legislative intervention which I would support as governor.”

LGBT anti-discrimination in the Charlotte, North Carolina, bathrooms is something that makes many residents uncomfortable for a number of reasons, but the main discomfort is expressed by the Governor. Yet, how can citizens be safe from predators, since predators can be of the same gender as well as the opposite gender? While using a restroom with someone with different genitalia might be uncomfortable or strange, the real issue is safety, and there seems no way to ensure that, either with current laws, or expanded ones.

The LGBT anti-discrimination bathroom argument in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been seriously compromised by the sex offender’s record.

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