GOP Political Whores Just Don't Get That Anti-Gay Bigotry Doesn't Sell Anymore

Even as North Carolina continues to reel over the backlash stemming from the batshitery of HB2 and dunce in chief Pat McCrory issues a worthless executive order as part of his damage control effort, Republicans in South Carolina and elsewhere continue to prostitute themselves to hate-filled, know nothing Christofascists.  Indeed, in South Carolina, even before possible passage of an anti-LGBT bill - a bill that Governor Nikki Haley has intimated she might veto - one CEO has announced that he will be moving the U.S. corporate headquarters of his company out of South Carolina.  Progressive businesses increasingly want nothing to do with knuckle dragging, backward looking states. The State looks at the announcement by the CEO of financial services firm Uphold.  Here are highlights:

A senate bill that would ban transgender men and women from using the bathroom of their choice has caused a Charleston-based company to decide to move to the West Coast.

Anthony Watson, CEO of Uphold, described himself as an “openly gay, British CEO” and said the company will move its U.S. corporate headquarters from Charleston to Los Angeles. Uphold is a financial services company that claims to have handled $830 million in transactions since its founding in 2014.

“I have watched in shock and dismay as legislation has been abruptly proposed or enacted in several states across the union seeking to invalidate the basic protections and rights of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) U.S. citizens,” he stated on the company’s website.”

Watson specifically called out S.C. Sen. Lee Bright for introducing a bill similar to North Carolina’s recently-passed law that blocks local governments from passing LGBT-inclusive and anti-discrimination ordinances.

“As such, we feel compelled to take action to oppose the discrimination being proposed in South Carolina and protect our LGBT employees,” he said. “We will stand firm in our commitment to fairness, equality and inclusion and our strong conviction that we can make a difference by living our core values. It’s the right thing to do for our members, employees, partners and the communities in which we live and work.”

As for Dunce in chief McCrory's lame damage control effort, Back to Stonewall  had this:

In what can only be called a bait and switch tactic to take some heat of his state Gov. Pat McCrory has just issued an executive order that in reality only overrides only a very small portion of HB2, the sweeping, broad, unconstitutional anti-LGBT.

Executive Order 93 WILL NOT change the ban on transgender people using public restrooms based on gender identity and WILL NOT allow local municipalities to create laws protecting the LGBT community against discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations.

Executive Order 93 states it will add sexual orientation and gender identity protections to the state’s employment policy for state employees and also it will seek “legislation to reinstate the right to sue in state court for discrimination.” That was taken away when he signed HB2 into law. (Which is impossible without LGBT discrimination protection laws actually in place.)

Kate Kendall, head of National Center for Lesbian Rights, a national legal organization, calls it “a cynical political move.”