The updates would add, among other characteristics, sexual orientation andgender identity to the lists of already protected classes and would outlaw unfair treatment in public accommodations, by city contractors and elsewhere.

QNotes reports that anti-LGBT voices have latched onto an opportunity to prevent equal protection and they’re already leading in the lobbying effort.

“Extreme forces have set their sights on preventing elected leaders from updating non-discrimination ordinances to protect gay and transgender Charlotteans from arbitrary discrimination,” Equality North Carolina, a statewide LGBT advocacy group, has told its supporters.

Opponents of the LGBT protections plan to hold a protest in Charlotte on Feb. 23, the day local leaders will take up LGBT-inclusive proposals.