Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The South East Regional Folk Alliance Conference (SERFA) is coming up soon at the Montreat Conference Center in North Carolina. No doubt many of you are aware that North Carolina has recently passed controversial laws targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens. Montreat Center has issued a public statement against this law, which you can read here. We also know that SERFA is in the process of formulating a response to the law. We will post information we receive from them about this on our website and Facebook page.
We would like our members to know that Local 1000 stands with many individuals and organizations in opposing this law. However, the Local 1000 Executive Board feels that the positive aspects of our presence at this year’s conference outweigh the negative aspects of conducting business in North Carolina. We stand in support of our LGBT brothers and sisters at the conference and we have sought assurances that none of these recent provisions will be enforced during our stay at the conference center. We commit ourselves to discussing this issue on a case-by-case basis in regards to future regional and national conferences that may take place in regions that enact similar legislation.
We hope you will understand our choice, and we look forward to engaging further with members on these issues.
Thank you,
Tret Fure
President, Local 1000
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