The people of North Carolina are standing up to a new anti-LGBT law in a big way.
The response to North Carolina's new anti-LGBT law should give us hope.
Last month, the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, passed a nondiscrimination ordinance aimed at protecting its lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender residents.
The ordinance simply said that Charlotte businesses wouldn't be allowed to discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. It was rolled into the city's existing nondiscrimination ordinance that protect people on the basis of race, age, religion, and gender.
Not exactly the most controversial thing in the world, right? Well...
Charlotte, North Caolina. Photo by Jon Dawson/Flickr.
Yesterday, the state legislature passed a bill that was signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory late last night, which nullified all city-level nondiscrimination ordinances across the state.
It also stated that in schools and government buildings, trans people would be forced to use bathrooms based on what their birth certificate (something that's extraordinarily hard to change) says. Oh, and it also wiped out city-level minimum wage laws. Ah, and it removed city-level protections on the basis of race and gender too.
In other words, it's a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad law.
The key argument in repealing the bill was that transgender women posed a risk to cisgender (non-trans) women in restrooms.
This despite the fact that in the numerous states and cities that have enacted inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances, no trans woman has ever used the law as a means to attack another woman. On the other hand, 70% of trans people surveyed have been denied access, harassed, or assaulted while trying to use public restrooms.
But the concern for women's safety is what Governor McCrory says influenced his decision to sign the hastily-passed bill.
It's an odd reason for the governor to cite, given the fact that Charlotte's ordinance didn't allow for "men" to use women's locker rooms anyway.
As their legislators worked to enact the most anti-LGBT law in the country, North Carolinians watched on, horrified. They began rallying around the hashtag #WeAreNotThis.
Some tweets focused on the irony of the lack of a democratic process in passing the bill.
Others cheered on legislators who spoke out against it.
Many others decried the legislature's use of "women's safety" as cover for a law that actually makes women as a whole less safe.
Some looked at the state's history (and the country's history) with legislating bathroom use.
And others simply expressed the disappointment of watching their state slide backward in time.
What's important to remember is that the actions of the state's lawmakers don't necessarily mean that the people of North Carolina are, as a whole, in agreement with them.
Gov. McCrory (who is running for reelection this November) and the state legislature have taken steps to undermine the rights of many North Carolina residents.
From here, it's a matter of what happens next. For those who believe the legislature was in the wrong, they can help work to elect replacements. For those who want to change the law, they can join efforts to challenge it in court.
The passage of a single bad law can be the beginning of necessary change; it doesn't need to be the end.
Beaver in water. Photo by 
An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Behold, the Rye Riptides miniboat. 
A man sweating in his car.via
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."