A North Carolina Democrat, running in a prominent race for the state’s attorney general, was filmed hugging a convicted sex offender after receiving an LGBTQ award in 2022, as reported by The Daily Wire.
Video from the December 13, 2022, Carolinas LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce event shows Rep. Jeff Jackson (D-NC) commending LGBTQ activists from the stage before embracing Chad Turner, a registered sex offender and CEO of the Charlotte LGBT Chamber of Commerce. Turner, who has not responded to multiple requests for comment from The Daily Wire, was charged with three counts of lewd acts involving minors under 16.
“You are an enormously influential, and positive force for this city, for the people who live here, I’m so grateful for you,” Jackson told the assembled crowd, after the chamber awarded him the “Advancing Equity Award.”
After Jackson left the stage, Turner took the mic to condemn “harmful bills sitting in the hopper,” an apparent reference to efforts to protect women’s spaces from men who identify as transgender women. “It’s going to be up to us to keep those people in check,” he added.
Turner claimed the boys were lying, but authorities sentenced him to 10 years in prison after convicting him in July 2000 of fondling a 15-year-old boy. According to the Daily Mail, he served only two years of his sentence and is now a registered sex offender under North Carolina’s Sex Offender and Public Protection Registry.
Currently, Jackson is running against Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) in what is reported to be one of the most contentious and expensive races in the state’s history. Bishop has established himself as a prominent member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, while Jackson has garnered support from far-left groups advocating for transgender surgeries and hormone treatments for minors.
A spokesman for Jackson told The Daily Wire that the congressman was unaware of Turner’s status and received the award from a “local chamber of commerce for supporting economic development.” Jackson’s office did not comment on whether he would return the award or continue collaborating with the organization.
Turner, the registered sex offender, has gone by various names, including Chad Sevearance-Turner and Chad Eugene Sevealance. He previously worked as a youth music minister at New Harvest Church of God in Gaffney, South Carolina, where multiple young men accused him in 1998 of inviting them over for sleepovers and then fondling them while they slept.
Despite this history, Turner became a prominent figure in the Charlotte LGBTQ activist community, even though some members were aware of his registered sex offender status, as noted by Melissa Morris of the Charlotte LGBT Chamber of Commerce in a 2016 interview with QNotesCarolinas.
He began serving as president of the Charlotte LGBT Chamber of Commerce in 2013, and within three years, the organization received significant recognition, including the Human Rights Campaign’s “Organization of the Year Award” at its 2016 North Carolina Gala on February 10, 2016.
“That organization has gone from 0 to 60 in less than seconds,” event organizer Dan Mauney said at the time. “And it’s all because of their board, because of their members, and HRC wanted to honor them and recognize them.”
In March 2016, several local North Carolina media outlets reported that Turner had resigned as president of the Charlotte LGBT Chamber of Commerce following revelations about his alleged history as a pedophile, brought to light by the North Carolina Values Coalition. He issued a statement to the LGBTQ outlet “QNotesCarolinas,” dismissing the significance of his sex offender past and asserting, “What I didn’t want to do was allow the right to continue to detract and to continue throwing stones at an organization that has done absolutely nothing but help individuals and our community in our city.”
However, Turner’s resignation seems to have been more of a media tactic than a genuine departure, as the Charlotte LGBT Chamber of Commerce continues to list him as its president and CEO. His LinkedIn profile indicates that he held the position of president from January 2013 to December 2020 and has served as CEO since December 2020.
“My role as CEO at the Charlotte LGBT Chamber of Commerce allows me to drive initiatives that support and elevate LGBT+ businesses and professionals,” Turner’s LinkedIn profile says.
Despite extensive media coverage of his background, Charlotte Pride selected Turner for its “2023 Harvey Milk Award,” acknowledging his “exceptional leadership, service to the community,” and advocacy for LGBTQ issues in the “Charlotte community and beyond.”
However, after reports about Turner’s past emerged, Charlotte Pride announced in August 2023 that it would not present any awards that year, stating: “We do not give every single award out every year. Charlotte Pride initially planned to award the Harvey Milk Award, but after further discussion, decided not to present it this year.”
An internet archive reveals that the organization had intended to honor Turner but subsequently removed the relevant information from its website. Charlotte Pride did not respond to The Daily Wire’s inquiries regarding whether they were aware of Turner’s past or if they employ registered sex offenders with offenses against minors. The Carolinas LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce also did not respond to requests for comment.
