The Libertarian Party has joined the growing list of organizations calling for the repeal of House Bill 2.

"The state has no authority to determine gender," the unanimous resolution states. HB 2 also “unduly intrudes state authority into local decision-making and unreasonably limits the ability of the citizens ... to govern themselves.”

In addition, the bill reduces individual rights because it “bans citizens from using state courts to remedy discrimination”

Nic Haag, Libertarian candidate for NC Senate 44, introduced the resolution. It was endorsed by General Assembly candidates Brad Hessel, NC Senate 15, Brian Irving, NC House 36, and Rob Rose, NC 37.

The convention was held in Raleigh last weekend.

The convention also passed a resolution calling for the repeal of the ban on counting write-in votes. The state does not count the votes for persons who haven't gathered enough petition signatures.

This “amounts to the legislature picking and choosing which votes to count, sometimes yielding suspicious results like unanimous vote tallies in our statewide elections,” the resolutions says.

Six candidates for the Libertarian presidential nomination participated in a forum Saturday. They included former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, the party's 2012 standard-bearer.

In other business, the convention elected at-large members to the state executive committee and adopted a revised platform. It also selected delegates to the Libertarian National Convention and nominated presidential electors.

Read the resolutions here.

Several Libertarian presidential candidates, including the party's 2012 standard-bearer Gary Johnson, plan to participate in a candidate forum April 23 at 2 p.m. during the 2016 Libertarian Party State Convention. 

Confirmed attendees are Gary Johnson, Kevin McCormick, Darryl Perry, Derrick Reid, Shawana Sterling, and Keenan Dunham. William Coley, a candidate for the LP vice presidential nomination, will also take part. 

The convention is being held at the Holiday Inn Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh. More information on the candidates is here.

by Nic Haag

I have spent the last few days commenting on various articles about the Charlotte ordinance and the state’s response, House Bill 2. I figured I might as well just do a culmination of a Libertarian's thoughts on the subject, so here it is.

While I disagree with the way the Charlotte ordinance was written, I do not wish it to be wholly invalidated. My main concern regards property rights. I do not believe the Charlotte city council has, or should have, the authority to force private businesses to be inclusionary. Just because a business is open to the public, it does not become a public entity. Quite simply, it’s a property owner’s right to have whatever the hell kind of bathroom policy they want. The city council should not have injected itself in between private property owners and their bathrooms.

The Libertarian Party of North Carolina will celebrate its 40th anniversary during their annual state convention April 22 to 24 at Raleigh's Holiday Inn Crabtree Valley Mall.

Arlan Andrews, the party's first gubernatorial candidate, will be the guest of honor. Andrews is now a renowned futurist and science fiction writer. He was the party's standard-bearer in 1976.

“We've also invited as many of the party's founders as we could find,” said J.J. Summerell, party chair.

“We hope to hear them share their stories about the LPNC back in the '70s and our ultimately successful struggles to attain ballot access in North Carolina.”

“But mostly we'll be looking forward to how we can achieve our vision of a free, peaceful, and prosperous North Carolina where every individual has the opportunity to pursue his or her unique vision of a rewarding and enriching life,” Summerell said.

There will a candidate forum Saturday afternoon featuring several of the candidates for the Libertarian presidential nomination. A second forum will feature the libertarian candidates for candidates for U.S. Senate, governor, and lieutenant governor, as well as several General Assembly candidates.

Convention business sessions will include consideration of revisions to the party platform, election of delegates to the Libertarian National Convention to be held in Orlando May 27-30, and filling vacancies on the state executive committee.