Baltimore Church Standing As One In Wake Of Anti-LGBT Bill

BALTIMORE (WJZ)--A stand here in Baltimore against what many call a discriminatory bill passed in North Carolina, excluding gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from anti-discrimination protections in the state.

Today a Baltimore church shows a sign of inclusion with a concert.

With a chorus, it's a group of people making one sound.

It's the same mission this Sunday concert has at Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church: standing as one, accepting all.

"I  think people seem extremely excited about it. I mean, they are very responsive to the songs and the singers," said Shirley Parry, Chair of Tiffany Series Committee. "People seem very attentive and wrapped and enjoying it."

This concert, a contrast statement against North Carolina's governor who signed a controversial transgender bill and excluding the protection of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from anti-discrimination laws and living wage rules.

"Being at a church that has been so welcoming for so long,  I think sometime we can forget that just the act of welcoming L.G.B.T. into our congregation and celebrating their gifts is radical, when you consider what's happening in other parts of the country," said associate pastor Tim Hughes.

Like other mayors across the Baltimore's Mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, considering a ban on nonessential government travel to North Carolina.

This L.G.B.T. concert features groups of from Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., showing a sign of unity.

"It's part of series of concerts that happen here throughout the year and it's really an opportunity to bring together these choirs that are all right here in the region, but have never come together in the same space," said Hughes.

The mayors of New York, Seattle and San Francisco have all banned their government workers from traveling to North Carolina on nonessential business.