"Business community split after LGBT ordinance fails", 3 Mar 2015

Business owners who opposed a Charlotte nondiscrimination ordinance [which would have prohibited discrimination based on gender identity or sexuality] said Tuesday the measure’s defeat is a victory that will protect their religious freedom by allowing them to decide whom to serve…[S]upporters of the ordinance said that by rejecting the measure, Charlotte would be sending a bad message to potential employees and businesses considering relocating to the city. They pointed out that many Fortune 500 companies have had non-discrimination policies in place for years…[The] president of the Charlotte Business Guild, an LGBT-founded business group [said] [t]he ordinance’s demise…compromises those same employees who are unprotected “when they leave for lunch … when they go to hail a cab for a meeting across town,” he said. “Not only should we have protections in the workplace, but we should have protections in the marketplace, as well…