Known sex offender given Harvey Milk award by CLT Pride
Chad Eugene Sevearance-Turner is well-known in NC for his sex offender status
There is an update in this story at the end of this article.
Thanks to links alerts from Post Millenial on my past reporting, it appears a well-known sex offender is back in the headlines after receiving the “Harvey Milk Award” from CLT Pride, an organization that describes itself as “the leader in LGBTQ visibility in Charlotte and the Carolinas.”
First, some backstory.
Chad Eugene Sevearance-Turner was accused by three young boys of committing lewd acts against them when he was a music director at the New Harvest Church of God located in Gaffney, South Carolina. At the time, he had a residence in Bessemer City, North Carolina
In 2000, Sevearance-Turner was ultimately convicted of lewd conduct with a child under the age of 16 that involved a 14-year-old victim. The incident occurred in South Carolina in 1998 when Sevearance-Turner was 20 years old.
He was given a 10-year prison sentence but he only served two years. As a condition of parole, he was required to register as a sex offender.
Following the revelations about his sex offender status, Sevearance-Turner resigned as president of the Charlotte Business Guild in 2016.
In 2016, Sevearance-Turner was leading opposition to House Bill 2, which would become known as the “bathroom bill.” The bill reversed an ordinance passed by the Charlotte City Council that would have required all bathrooms and locker room-type areas to essentially be unisex.
Additionally, around the same time, the Charlotte Observer was forced to admit they had used Sevearance-Turner as an often-quoted source despite knowing about his criminal past.
Second, some backstory on Harvey Milk, via Post Millenial:
Harvey Milk was one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States, and spent a year in public office before being assasinated. The award given in his name goes to "an individual to honor exceptional leadership, service to the community, and those who champion LGBTQ causes that impact the Charlotte community and beyond," according to the Charlotte Pride website.
According to a profile by Milk biographer Matt Barber of Liberty Counsel, Milk was also accused of comitting statatury rape against a 16 year old runaway from Maryland named Jack Galen McKinley. Milk would have been 33 at the time.
Third, here’s the award CLT Pride unironically bestowed on Sevearance-Turner, who has apparently dropped the “Sevearance” in the hyphenation of his name. For what it’s worth, his voter registration displays his full last name.
No mention in the award bio that he’s still a registered sex offender, but the bio does include two big name drops.
More To The Story
The last paragraph of the award bio drops the names of two big Democrats in the state: Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles and Governor Roy Cooper.
“In July of 2023, Chad was appointed by Mayor Lyles and Charlotte City Council to serve on the city’s Business Advisory Committee. This appointment ensures that LGBT businesses will continue to have a seat at the table. Beyond his role, he has been an influential advocate for LGBT+ issues and has received recognition from QNotes as Person of the Year and Governor Roy Cooper for his advocacy work. He continues the work by advocating as the voice for the LGBT+ business and professional community.”
This is not the first time Sevearance-Turner and Cooper have been linked.
It went largely unreported by North Carolina media outlets in 2018 that the governor and Lyles both attended a Charlotte LGBT Chamber of Commerce gala hosted by Sevearance-Turner.
In the CLT LGBT Chamber’s post, you can see Cooper in the center, flanked by Lyles on the left and Sevearance-Turner on the right.
Several other photos of the event featuring Cooper and Sevearance-Turner floated around Facebook. The one below, which I luckily archived, has since mysteriously disappeared from the CLT Chamber of Commerce page.
Other than smaller outlets, blogs, and this Substack, it looks like North Carolina media will again be ignoring this story.
UPDATE:
CLT Pride has rescinded the award, per WBT’s Brett Jensen. The website has been scrubbed of the Harvey Milk Award for this year and now only displays the past recipients. An archived version is available here.