North Carolina has been in the news a lot this week after they passed HB2, which discriminates against people in the LGBTQ community. It has gotten hype because of the measures saying that transgender people must use the bathroom of the gender that they were identified as at birth, not the identity that they identify. This Republican obsession with sex organs needs to stop. The government needs to keep out of people’s pants!
Many people are boycotting the state after this law was passed. PayPal had plans to build a big facility there, but they have decided to move their plans elsewhere. Even a pornography website has blocked users in North Carolina. Bruce Springsteen cancelled a concert that he was going to perform there. Some protesters even put up a portable bathroom at the capital to troll the governor.
Governor Pat McCrory passed an executive order to clarify the points of the bill. Really, it’s a whole lot of nothing. The order says:
- The bathrooms have restrictions for transgender people. These restrictions apply for bathrooms and locker rooms at public facilities.
- That it affirms the right of private businesses to implement these policies in their establishment.
- It gives local businesses the right to establish non-discrimination policies for their employees.
- It affirms the right to sue companies that discriminate.
Parts of this sounds good, but the bathroom restrictions need to go. He leaves the actual discrimination in the hands of local governments. But, these are the same kind of people that discriminate in the first place.
The attorney general, Roy Cooper refused to defend HB2 in court saying that the law is unconstitutional:
“Not only is this new law a national embarrassment, it will set North Carolina’s economy back if we don’t repeal it. The threats to our economy will grow even darker the longer this law stays in effect.”
Agreed, Mr. Cooper. North Carolina needs to repeal this bill two weeks ago.
Featured image by DonkeyHotey via flickr, available under Creative Commons 2.0 license.
