#josh stein

Governor Josh Stein had a disturbing proclamation about Ramadan in North Carolina.

Yunior Rivas at Democracy Docket:

North Carolina became the latest GOP-controlled state to announce it will gerrymander its congressional map to please President Donald Trump.  Legislative leaders formally scheduled a vote for next week to redraw the state’s U.S. House districts — an extreme, mid-decade power grab aimed at cementing the GOP’s edge in Congress. The move follows Trump’s call for red-state legislatures to “fix” congressional maps before 2026, a message embraced by Republican leaders from Texas to Missouri who have already enacted their own gerrymanders.

Under its most recent map, passed in 2023, North Carolina’s House delegation retains a 10-4 Republican majority, even though the state is closely divided between Republicans and Democrats. Now, GOP leaders want to go even further, targeting Congressional District 1, a Democratic-held, majority-minority district that could flip under GOP line changes. While Republican Senate leader Phil Berger (R), who leads the state’s upper chamber, insisted the timing has nothing to do with Trump’s call, his own announcement tied the move directly to Trump’s call and suggested last month another redraw was inevitable. “We have drawn four Congressional maps in the last six years in redistricting fights with Democrats because of their sue-until-blue strategy,” Berger posted on social media. “If we have to draw one more map this year, we will. That said, I’ve never spoken to President Trump about this or an endorsement.”

Alex Bollinger at LGBTQ Nation:

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein (D) has vetoed several anti-diversity bills, including one that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender inmates in the state prison system. The bill is H.B. 805, which bans the state from paying for gender-affirming hormone replacement therapy and surgeries for transgender inmates. It would have also required the state to keep a copy of a transgender person’s original birth certificate if they have the gender marker on it updated, and it included language saying that there are only two genders, male and female. According to WPDE, the bill started as a bipartisan measure requiring age verification for adult websites, but the final version of the bill contained a list of far-right initiatives, including the ones listed above related to transgender people’s rights and another measure that would require school districts to create a policy to allow parents to opt their kids out of activities that “impose a substantial burden on the student’s religious beliefs.” “My faith teaches me that we are all children of God, no matter our differences, and that it is wrong to target vulnerable people, as this bill does,” Stein said in vetoing the bill.

The other three bills that Stein vetoed on Thursday were related to diversity measures. One of the bills would have cut funding to schools that engage in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Another bill would have banned diversity training and staff positions at state agencies, and it also would have banned state funds from being used for diversity initiatives at those agencies.

“We should not whitewash history,” Stein wrote about the education bill, adding that the state “should ensure our students learn from diverse perspectives and form their own opinions.” He said the bill about state diversity measures is “riddled with vague definitions” and “imposes extreme penalties for unknowable violations.” The bills passed along party lines, with all state Democrats opposing the diversity bills and only one Democrat voting in favor of the anti-trans bill. Republicans have a nearly veto-proof majority, but they need at least one Democrat to cross party lines in the North Carolina House of Representatives to overturn Stein’s veto.

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein (D) vetoes an anti-trans bill and also three other anti-diversity measures.

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