North Carolina has been under fire in the news this week. They passed a ridiculous law allowing discrimination against transgender people. They are trying to police where people go to the bathroom! It’s absolutely stupid and of course the law is unconstitutional. Many companies are boycotting the state after this ridiculous law passed.
PayPal was planning on building a HUGE new facility there, but they are moving it now. Charlotte is supposed to be the location for the NBA All-Star basketball game next year, but they are considering moving it to Atlanta.
Now, a MAJOR name in music has refused to do a concert there. Bruce Springsteen is cancelling his concert scheduled there. He also penned a SCATHING letter to the state government.
Now, one of the state representatives has thrown a tantrum over Springsteen’s message. North Carolina GOP Rep. Mark Walker called Springsteen a “bully.” He tried to defend himself and his state by saying they have other bands coming in such as Def Leppard and Justin Bieber. Mr. Walker, Def Leppard and Justin Bieber are not in the same class as Bruce Springsteen. I imagine “The Boss” would have brought in more money than those other two combined if this stupid law had not been passed.
Walker said he may switch to listening to Justin Bieber. I know he passed a nasty law, but listening to Justin Bieber is a harsh punishment for him to give himself. Now that Walker has endorsed these other artists, they should be running from the state as quickly as possible.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Lambda Legal have warned that this bill could cost the state a lot of federal funds. These republicans need to keep their bigotry out of our government. I hope these advocacy groups can help get this law overturned.
Featured image by Mary via flickr, available under Creative Commons 2.0 license.
