Dear Jack,

Welcome to the Friday Five! Every Friday we share our top five articles, stories, and quotes for you to read and share with your friends and church families.

We would be very grateful if you could make a donation of $100, $50, $25, or $10 today towards our work producing these Friday Fives and fighting for your values on the public square!

1. WASHINGTON POST: He Became Governor Supporting Trans Rights. Now, It’s Seen as a Liability.

"When Democrat Roy Cooper ran for North Carolina governor in 2016, transgender rights seemed like a winning issue for him and his party. Businesses were boycotting the state for passing first-in-the-nation, GOP-led restrictions on bathroom use, and Republicans nationwide were wary. . . . Nearly a decade later, with Cooper running for Senate, Republicans want trans issues front and center — a testament to how dramatically the politics have changed. Today, it’s Cooper who would rather not talk about it."

"Tami Fitzgerald, the executive director of the conservative group NC Values, said gender identity wasn’t even on her group’s radar when it was founded in 2011 to oppose same-sex marriage. Now it’s a top focus — and she noted that polling has shown Republican support for gay marriage falling in recent years, too.

'We’ll see what happens,' Fitzgerald said."

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/08/18/trans-rights-bathroom-north-carolina/

2. NCVI: Stephen Foote v. Ludlow School Committee Amicus Brief

Our sister organization, the NC Values Institute (NCVI), has filed another amicus brief defending your values at the U.S. Supreme Court.

The case, Stephen Foote v. Ludlow School Committee, challenges a public school policy that allowed a child to undergo a so-called “gender transition” at school—without parental consent and even against the parents’ explicit instructions. NCVI argues that parental rights are fundamental and must be upheld.

Read more about the case and our brief here: https://ncvi.org/stephen-foote-v-ludlow-school-committee-amicus-brief/

3. CAROLINA JOURNAL: Leading Candidates in US Senate Race are 8 Points Apart in New CJ Poll

"The first Carolina Journal poll of the likely matchup for North Carolina’s open United States Senate seat next year puts former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper ahead of Republican Michael Whatley 47% to 39%. But the poll also revealed that a large swath of the electorate is unfamiliar with Whatley; a potential opportunity for gains as he becomes better known to voters.

Whatley is chairman of the Republican National Committee and former NCGOP chair. Whatley has not run for office before but he was instrumental in keeping NC in President Donald Trump’s corner for the last three election cycles. Cooper, on the other hand, has been in Tar Heel State politics for decades, first in the state Senate in the 1990s, then as attorney general, and more recently as a two-term governor."

Read more: https://www.carolinajournal.com/leading-candidates-in-us-senate-race-are-eight-points-apart-in-new-cj-poll/

4. DAILY SIGNAL: Transgender Lawsuit Could Be Revived Over Change in the Law

"Prisha Mosley, a detransitioner who now advocates against transgender procedures, is seeking to have her lawsuit on medical malpractice, fraud, and negligence charges reinstated in a case that could have wide-ranging ramifications.

Mosley, who was put on testosterone when she was 17, sued several health care providers on medical malpractice and negligence claims in 2023. A judge dismissed her malpractice claims last year on statute of limitations grounds, while clearing her case to move forward on the fraud, facilitating fraud, and civil conspiracy charges.

Now, she is seeking to have her lawsuit revived because North Carolina’s General Assembly has passed legislation that extends the statute of limitations to 10 years for malpractice lawsuits related to gender transitions. That legislation took effect on July 29."

Read more: https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/08/18/precedent-setting-transgender-case-heard-north-carolina/

5. BANK OF AMERICA: Bank of America Finally Axes Rule that Sparked ‘Debanking’ of Conservative Religious Groups

"Evangelical organizations faced even more pressure, right-leaning activists and bank executives say: In addition to reputation risk, they were slammed with a once widely-used rule across the financial-services industry that could deny services based on religious 'viewpoint.'

The rule allowed woke bank administrators to cancel evangelical groups from their platforms on the grounds that opposing progressive cultural norms, such as same-sex marriage, was tantamount to hate speech."

Read more: https://nypost.com/2025/08/13/business/bank-of-america-axes-rule-that-debanked-religious-conservatives/

Weekly Prayer: Officials

LORD, you also have instructed us to pray for our governing officials, and we come to you in the spirit of this petition. We pray for our state government and its executive, legislative, and judicial servants. May they indeed be servants unto the people, and govern in a manner that protects liberty and virtue. In the same spirit, we pray for public servants across our local governments. May they all heed your mandate in Romans 13:4 to be in positions of authority as “God’s servant” and for the “good” of the public. They govern in what we confess are difficult times. May they plead with you to give them wisdom, and may your grace to govern wisely be poured out on them.

Protect us from the oppression and loss of freedoms that other countries have experienced, and help us to value and preserve freedom, which we know comes only from You.

“I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt.  I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free.” Acts 7:34

Amen

Sincerely,

Tami & Team

NC Values