Trump is Helping to Sink Pat McCrory

Ever since he rushed to sign infamous HB2 into law, North Carolina governor Pat McCrory has been fighting for his political life and deservedly so.  The heinous law has caused boycotts against his state and triggered the decisions of corporations to forego expansion plans in North Carolina.  Down in the polls for his re-election effort, McCrory has resorted to lying about the state's economy and played the victim of progressive activists.  Now, Donald Trump's efforts to convince voters that the economy is terrible is running directly opposite to McCrory's effort to downplay the economic damage wrought by HB2.  A piece in Politico looks at how Trump is perhaps unwittingly helping in the effort to defeat McCrory next month.  Here are article excerpts:

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory is desperate to talk about his economic achievements after a year mired in contentious debate over social issues, including the state’s transgender “bathroom law.”

The only problem? Donald Trump keeps coming to town and telling voters how terrible the economy is.

It’s the most glaring example this year of the disconnect between Trump’s apocalyptic rhetoric and the message of achievement that many Republican incumbents are trying to use to win reelection. . . . . the gap between McCrory’s “Carolina Comeback” theme and Trump’s doom-and-gloom assessments yawns particularly wide, as McCrory faces the toughest reelection challenge of any governor in the country in 2016.

McCrory’s TV ads open with text promising “the truth about North Carolina’s economy” before McCrory touts “one of the fastest-growing economies in the country,” one in which thousands of new jobs are announced “every month.” Yet earlier this month, Trump told attendees at a raucous rally in Greensboro that only under a Trump presidency would their “jobs come back” and “income go up.”

[M]ost Republican operatives said that Trump does McCrory no favors by harping on economic woes without citing the state’s successes, as it could further depress turnout in an already volatile political environment. What Trump would add to McCrory are voters who were already probably going to vote for Trump and McCrory,” said one national operative who works on governors' races. “But the rhetoric isn’t helpful. If voters hear a mixed message, it could keep them at home on Election Day.”

Trump’s negativity on the stump compounds the feeling that the state is on the wrong track, said Carter Wrenn, a local Republican consultant. He pointed to polling that says voters are not personally feeling an economic turnaround in their lives, so Trump’s comments “complicate McCrory’s life,” Wrenn said, because he believes voters “don’t separate North Carolina from the national message.”

[Trump] sucks the oxygen out of McCrory's message. I don’t think voters can hear all the negativity on the national level and believe the state has turned around.”

Cooper’s campaign capitalized on that feeling early, putting out an ad in August that asked voters to “raise your hand if your taxes have gone up, while those at the top are the ones getting the tax break,” flashing images of voters raising their hands. “And raise your hand if you’re working more for less.”

A High Point University poll in late September found that 60 percent of voters said it was more important to end House Bill 2’s economic impact than to enforce the law.

“McCrory’s message just doesn’t ring true with people because he’s got to face all the headlines around HB2, all the job losses from companies leaving and losing sporting events,” said Gary Pearce, a Democratic consultant in the state. “He’s singing the wrong key.”

It is important that McCrory is defeated.  A significant loss may at last convince some Republicans that prostituting themselves to the Christofascists is no longer good for their political survival.  I hope the Virginia GOP is watching how anti-LGBT extremism is having the exact opposite effect of what the North Carolina GOP had thought the bill would achieve for them.

North Carolina Restaurant And Hotel Association - Friend or Enemy of LGBT Citizens?

Having just returned from staying in North Carolina where the husband and I attended a family wedding, I am not sure exactly how to interpret  a resolution by the North Carolina Restaurant and Hotel Association ("NCRLA") calling for the city of Charlotte to repeal its pro-LGBT ordinance while also calling on GOP Governor Pat McCrory to convene a special session of the legislature to repeal HB2 in its entirety.  Obviously, the call for the repeal of HB2 is a positive, but repeal of Charlotte's ordinance seems to be a betrayal aimed at appeasing the hate groups that conspired with the North Carolina Republican Party to enact HB2 in the first place. Yes, the hotel industry in North Carolina has suffered, at least in some areas, but the better solution to me is to declared war in North Carolina Republicans and to see they as many as possible are voted out of office in November and in every election afterwards. Frankly, the NRLA action doesn't make me inclined to visit North Carolina again anytime soon unless I absolutely have to do so. Here are highlights from NCRLA's press release:

The unintended consequences of Charlotte City Ordinance #7056 and House Bill 2 have taken a considerable toll on our state as a whole. The hospitality industry has become collateral damage in a fight it did not start or ask for. Restaurant and lodging businesses and their employees are suffering the adverse impact of these policies though lost business and wages.

The North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association (NCRLA) urges policy makers on all sides of this issue to work together to find resolution quickly. “NCRLA has received assurances this week from legislative leadership, that if the Charlotte City Council repeals Ordinance #7056 at their meeting on Monday, the General Assembly is prepared to meet in special session as early as next week to repeal House Bill 2,” said Lynn Minges, NCRLA president and CEO. “Furthermore, Governor Pat McCrory has assured NCRLA that he is willing to call legislators into a special session next week for this purpose if both the city and legislators have the votes for repeal,” she said.

The North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association calls on Charlotte City Council to repeal ordinance #7056 immediately, on Governor McCrory to convene a special session of the NC General Assembly, and on the NC House and Senate to repeal House Bill 2 in its entirety.

We . . . . also believe all elements of the debate should be carefully, thoroughly, and deliberately considered and evaluated through the immediate formation of a study commission.

I'd love to hear readers' thoughts.  I can't help but feel that NCRLA's only concern is one of money.  The association seemingly doesn't give a rat's ass about LGBT rights and the need for non-discrimination protections. Therefore, for now, we will continue to avoid North Carolina like a toxic plague until HB2 is repealed and Charlotte's ordinance is allowed to stand.  Charoltte's ordinance isn't the problem.  Rather it is the North Carolina Republican Party and the Christofascists to which it so willing prostitutes itself.  And yes, I did send a link to this post to NCRLA.  Others who want to express their views to NCRLA can do so here.

68 Major Companies Join in Amicus Brief Against HB2

NC homophobe-in-chief, Pat McCrory with Paul Ryan

I continue to believe that the hate and batshitery embodied in North Carolina's HB2 and the corporate backlash to the bill ought to be an object lesson to Virginia's knuckle dragging Republicans and their spittle flecked Christofascist puppeteers.  Not only is North Carolina continuing to hemorrhage business losses  - Charlotte's convention business is being hammered - but the media coverage is unrelentingly negative.  Now, 68 major corporations have joined in an amicus brief arguing that HB2 must be struck down.  The list of companies is a who's who of household names and some are major players in North Carolina's business community that are livid over the North Carolina GOP's self-prostitution to the ugliest elements of the Christofascists in that state (and national hate groups funding some of them).  The Raleigh News & Observer looks at the companies joining in the brief. Here are excerpts:

American Airlines, Microsoft and Marriott are among 68 companies that signed an amicus brief in the lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s House Bill 2.

Former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson authored the brief on behalf of Human Rights Campaign, the LGBT advocacy group that is leading opposition to the law. The brief will be filed in the lawsuit currently pending between state leaders and the U.S. Department of Justice, which is trying to strike down the law as discriminatory.

“That so many in the business community are willing to stand up in opposition to HB2 underscores the immeasurable and irreparable harm the law is doing to the transgender community and to North Carolina’s economy,” Olson said in a news release.

In the brief, the companies argue that the law is “an affront to their nondiscrimination policies” and “undermines their ability to do business within and outside of North Carolina,” according to the news release.

Other companies that signed the brief include: Apple, Bloomberg, Capital One, General Electric, IBM, Nike, Morgan Stanley, PayPal, Dow Chemical and Red Hat.

Late Friday, Gov. Pat McCrory’s office issued a statement criticizing the companies’ involvement with the lawsuit.

Meanwhile, McCrory's Democrat opponent continues to hammer him on the harm he and anti-LGBT extremists are doing to the state.  As for McCrory's claim that HB2 "protects women and girls,"  there are ZERO cases of transgender individuals stalking in restrooms. ZERO cases.  In contrast, if one looks at Freethought Today, EVERY issue has multiple pages filled with reports crimes by clergy, many involving sexual misconduct.  Banning clergy from restrooms would do far more to protect the public than HB2.

Will HB2 Be The Downfall of Governor Pat McCrory?

North Carolina GOP political whore, Pat McCrory

Karma can indeed be a bitch.  Ask North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory who nearly fell over himself to quickly sign anti-LGBT HB2 into law in order to prostitute himself to the Christofascist elements in the North Carolina GOP base.  Now, as he plummets in the polls - reportedly he is now 8% behind his Democrat challenger in the latest poll - McCrory told the New York Times that he suspected that the passage of the Charlotte ordinance targeted by HB2 had been orchestrated by Democrats and the Human Rights Campaign to Democrats an advantage in a tight governor’s race. Funny thing is that I saw no one holding a gun to McCrory's head as he happily signed HB2 into law, surrounded by right wing supporters.   Meanwhile, Charlotte lost another big convention today. Personally, I find a tawdry prostitute to be more virtuous than McCrory and similar Republicans who rush to pander to Christofascists and bigots.  A column in Huffington Post looks at whether or not McCrory assured his own defeat in November by signing HB2 into law.  Here are highlights:

It may too soon to tell, but so far North Carolina GOP governor Pat McCrory’s signing of a sweeping anti-LGBT law hasn’t been a great help to his re-election campaign. It would be ironic — and just desserts — if a cynical political move to save his campaign actually doomed it.

All winter McCrory was slightly ahead or tying with Democratic attorney general Roy Cooper in the polls, but since his signing of HB2 several weeks ago — and since the tremendous backlash across the country and around the world — Cooper now has a lead over McCrory by several percentage points in several polls. At the same time, a new poll shows that HB2 is deeply unpopular with the state’s electorate, with only 36% of North Carolina voters supporting it.

Again, it’s early. And polls of the gubernatorial race may have little to do with HB2, as there’s been a lot of dissatisfaction with McCrory for many other reasons, his approval numbers having plummeted. But it’s certainly better than if McCrory saw a boost in support while anti-LGBT conservatives and groups like Family Research Council and demagogues like Ted Cruz have been heralding this bigoted law.

With the daily barrage of media attention, McCrory’s re-election could fast become a referendum on HB2, and if he goes down it may be because progressive activists and Democrats took a far different approach than LGBT activists did in Houston last November, when voters rescinded the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.

Opponents had turned the Houston ordinance — which protected 15 classes of people against discrimination — into “ The Bathroom Ordinance,” via ugly but effective ads that, like McCrory and the North Carolina GOP legislators, claimed protecting transgender people would allow predators into women’s restrooms.

But in North Carolina, not only has the economic impact of the law’s passage been front and center every day, with powerful companies, major musicians like Bruce Springsteen and cities and states joining a boycott, but Democrats are committed to ads that focus on that devastating economic impact. One powerful ad already being deployed lays the economic harm to the state at McCrory’s feet.

At the same time, the pressure on McCrory has been intense, at the political level and literally on the ground, as activists this week have engaged in civil disobedience meant to bring more attention and underscore the passion people have about the harmful effects of the law.

It would seem that support for HB2 would need to be much higher than the current poll to help embattled McCrory in a great way, and this is only the beginning: As the backlash grows and more economic impact is felt, support for the law is only likely to decrease as voters believe McCrory has harmed the state.

[I]f McCrory loses the race, the optics of the anti-LGBT law, and the backlash against it, will be damaging to anti-LGBT conservatives. After the terrible defeat in Houston that gave anti-LGBT forces some wind at their sails, McCrory’s loss could deal a blow to anti-trans bathroom bills.

That’s why LGBT activists and allies must continue to do everything possible, including civil disobedience and forceful, uncompromising messaging to the public about how dangerous and detrimental these laws are to a state. If Houston taught us anything it’s that pleading for equality while hate-mongers put out lies is not a strategy.

I am in total agreement with the column's author.  I would also argue that HB2 and the economic harm it is bringing to North Carolina needs to be hung around the neck of every single Republican who voted for it.  Examples need to be made and voters need to become convinced that politicians who pander to Christofacists are a clear and present threat to economic well-being.  Indeed, they need to be voted out of office.

New Poll: Anti-Gay GOP Governor Losing to Democrat Challenger Due to HB2

With North Carolina getting hammered economically and suffering under the national and international spotlight as a bigoted and backward state, North Carolinians are apparently waking up to the poisonous consequences of Republican self-prostitution to hate and ignorance embracing right wing Christians.  A new poll shows that GOP Governor and habitual liar Pat McCrory has fallen from a two point lead against Democrat challenger, Roy Cooper (the incumbent Attorney General) to a four point deficit.  The prime factor?  HB2 and the adverse consequences now facing the state.  Here are highlights from Towleroad on this notable shift in the polls:

A new poll out from SurveyUSA for Raleigh’s WRAL shows that the anti-LGBT law Governor Pat McCrory signed may be affecting his poll numbers:

HB2 may be…taking a toll on incumbent Republican Governor Pat McCrory, who signed HB2 into law 3 weeks ago, and who now finds himself trailing Democratic challenger Roy Cooper, the state’s attorney general, 43% to 47% among likely 11/08/16 voters. McCrory has a Minus 4 Net Job Approval Rating today: 43% of voters approve of the job he is doing as Governor, 47% disapprove. Cooper has a Plus 28 Net Job Approval Rating today: 53% of voters approve of the job Cooper is doing as Attorney General, 25% disapprove. Compared to a 03/08/16 SurveyUSA WRAL-TV poll, McCrory’s job approval is largely unchanged, but Cooper has gone from Plus 18 five weeks ago to Plus 28 today.

The last Survey USA poll conducted on this race showed McCrory with a 2 percentage point lead. 

As for some of the economic fallout facing North Carolina thanks to the GOP sell out to the Christofascists, The Advocate has a partial summary:

The canceled business expansions and events are listed below.

Ringo Starr announced today the cancellation of his show scheduled for June 18 in protest of HB 2. In a press release, Starr says that he "stands with those fighting against the bigotry of HB 2." He apologized to his fans, saying, "I'm sorry to dissapoint my fans in the area, but we need to take a stand against this hatred. Spread peace and love."

On Tuesday, Deutsche Bank announced it was canceling a planned expansion of its operations in Cary, which is near Raleigh, the state capital. The expansion would have added 250 jobs; 900 people are already employed at the Cary facility.

Last week, PayPal announced it canceled plans to open a new global payment center in Charlotte, which was expected to bring 400 new jobs to the city.

Bruce Springsteen canceled a concert that was to be held last Sunday in Greensboro because of his opposition to HB 2. "Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry — which is happening as I write — is one of them," he said in a statement. 

Thirteen planned conventions and events in Charlotte have been canceled in response to the state's anti-LGBT bill. And 29 more groups are on a “hesitant/concerned list,” reports The Charlotte Observer.

The New York Times notes that the state could lose billions of dollars in federal funding for schools, highways, and housing. 

Eight cities and four states have banned publicly funded employee travel to the state. 

Lionsgate canceled an eight-day production shoot in response to the bill. 

The Tony-award winning Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz and his collaborators halted all productions of Wicked in the state in protest.

The list does not include the cancellations for the High Point Furniture Mart.  Cyndi Lauper has decided to go forward with her concert in the state - and to give all the profits to Equality North Carolina.

Again, I suspect that many North Carolina residents are saying WTF - all this just so Christofascists can feel superior about themselves and mistreat others?  I hope the message that bigotry carries a high cost sinks in across America.  Indeed, the Republican Governor of Georgia has made it clear that he will veto any other anti-gay bills that reach his desk.

If you'd like to let Pat McCrory that you are cancelling plans to visit, invest in, or hold a meeting in North Carolina, send him a message here.

Porn Site Bans North Carolina Users

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Big City Mayors Ban Purchasing from North Carolina and Mississippi

Just when some in North Carolina - and now Mississippi - are probably wondering what additional threat can slam their state in the wake of Republicans enacting heinous anti-LGBT laws, a number of big city mayors have announced that they are banning taxpayer funded purchases of goods from those states.  This is on top of bans by many of the same cities and a half dozen or more states that have banned employee travel to North Carolina and Mississippi.  Let's hope the economic pain these hate embracing states suffer is severe indeed.  The New Civil Rights Movement looks at this latest shoe to drop against Christofascist/Republican extremism.  Here are highlights:

Ten mayors from some of the nation's largest cities will ban the use of taxpayer funds not only for official travel to North Carolina and Mississippi, but ban the use of taxpayer funds to purchase goods and services from companies located in those two states. The boycott is a direct response to governors in North Carolina and Mississippi signing into law legislation that discriminates against LGBT people. The mayors have joined together to create a new group, Mayors Against Discrimination.

Truly a nationwide effort, the founding members of the group are New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (photo), Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, Portland Mayor Charlie Hales, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell, Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.

"Some are trying to turn back the clock to a deeply flawed time in our history," Mayor de Blasio said, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 

"By joining together in this effort, we are creating a coalition of mayors across the country to combat discrimination of any kind and to protect civil rights everywhere," Mayor Murray added.

The group will also "develop model resolutions that can be adopted by city councils and other legislative bodies, and other measures that mayors and cities can take individually and collectively," The Bay Area Reporter reports. 

They say they will also "work with private sector leaders and companies, like Marc Benioff from Salesforce, Wells Fargo, Starbucks and hundreds of others to apply direct political and economic pressure to repeal or stop the alarming spread of discriminatory laws in the United States."

Obama Administration Considers Cutting Federal Funding to North Carolina

According to a story in the New York Times, North Carolina Republicans may be about to feel severe consequence for their self-prostitution to Christofascists in the form of horrific economic damage to the state's economy and education system.  How so?  Apparently, the Obama administration is considering whether North Carolina’s new anti-LGBT law makes the state ineligible for billions of dollars in federal aid for schools, highways and housing.  Yes, that is billions with a "B".  As previously noted, the EEOC has held that anti-gay and anti-transgender discrimination violates the Civil Rights Act, so there would be precedent for holding North Carolina liable for its state wide discrimination against LGBT citizens.  Personally, I hope all federal funding is cut and North Carolina is brought to its knees economically.  Mississippi should face a similar fate.  Here are story highlights:

The Obama administration is considering whether North Carolina’s new law on gay and transgender rights makes the state ineligible for billions of dollars in federal aid for schools, highways and housing, officials said Friday.

Cutting off any federal money — or even simply threatening to do so — would put major new pressure on North Carolina to repeal the law, which eliminated local protections for gay and transgender people and restricted which bathrooms transgender people can use. A loss of federal money could send the state into a budget crisis and jeopardize services that are central to daily life.

Although experts said such a drastic step was unlikely, at least immediately, the administration’s review puts North Carolina on notice that the new law could have financial consequences. Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina had assured residents that the law would not jeopardize federal money for education.

But the law also represents a test for the Obama administration, which has declared that the fight for gay and transgender rights is a continuation of the civil rights era. The North Carolina dispute forces the administration to decide how aggressively to fight on that principle.

Anthony Foxx, the secretary of transportation, first raised the prospect of a review of federal funding in public remarks on Tuesday in North Carolina. The Department of Transportation provides roughly $1 billion a year to North Carolina. The New York Times then asked other federal agencies whether they were conducting similar reviews.

A Department of Education spokeswoman, Dorie Nolt, said on Friday that her agency was also reviewing the North Carolina law “to determine any potential impact on the state’s federal education funding.” She added, “We will not hesitate to act if students’ civil rights are being violated.”

The agency said it provided $4.3 billion to North Carolina last year for kindergarten through 12th grade as well as colleges. Any decision on federal aid would take time, experts said. Federal agencies have used the threat of lost money to pressure a handful of municipal governments in California and Illinois to change their policies and allow transgender students to use the restrooms of the gender they identify with. There is no recent precedent for the federal government’s applying similar pressure to address a state law that it sees as discriminatory. Mr. McCrory, a Republican who is seeking re-election, and other supporters of the law have been aware, but dismissive, of suggestions that the measure might endanger the state’s federal largess. Mr. McCrory’s office did not respond to messages on Friday. The Obama administration would not need to go to court to withhold grant money, but doing so would surely lead to a court fight, especially since the law is unsettled.  

Again, an example needs to be made of North Carolina - and Mississippi - to send a loud message to Republicans that the days of granting special rights to Christian extremists is over and that religious based bigotry will carry a very high cost.

North Carolina Already Feeling Effects of Anti-Gay Law

As noted in the prior post, a federal lawsuit has been filed challenging North Carolina's Republican backed anti-LGBT license to discriminate law.  More on this will follow.  But first, it is noteworthy to see the manner in which this special rights for Christofascists law is already harming the state.  First, New York State has banned all state employee travel to North Carolina.  Second, the High Point Furniture Market - a huge concern in the world of furniture - has felt compelled to release a press statement in the wake of the notifications it is receiving from customers who will be boycotting the Market this year.  Here are highlights:

High Point, NC, March 28, 2016 —In the last few days, dozens of customers have contacted the High Point Market Authority to inform us that they have cancelled plans to attend the Market in April due to passage of HB2. There are also several campaigns on social media calling for a boycott of the High Point Market this spring.

As leaders and organizers of the High Point Market, we feel an obligation to inform the public and our government leaders in Raleigh of the significant economic damage that HB2 is having on the High Point Market and on the North Carolina economy. Based on the reaction in just the last few days, hundreds and perhaps thousands of our customers will not attend Market this April.

We believe it is vital for them [legislators and state agencies] to be kept informed of the public’s reaction to HB2, and to the significant economic damage that this controversy is causing.

Meanwhile, the City of Charlotte is already seeing cancellation of plans for conventions and events in that city.  Here are highlights from the Charlotte Observer:

North Carolina’s new law limiting LGBT protections has already dissuaded some outside businesses and groups from planning events in Charlotte, the city’s tourism authority says.

Tom Murray, president and CEO of the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, said Monday the group is “extremely concerned” about the controversial new legislation, and it continues to hear “negative feedback and potential event cancellations” from customers.

Some would-be customers have withdrawn their interest in Charlotte as a host destination, the CRVA said, though the group declined to say how many or which customers. No existing conventions have canceled yet, Murray said.

“On behalf of the visitor economy that represents one in nine jobs across the Charlotte region, we strongly urge that state and local leaders find a resolution that represents the best interests of our city and state,” Murray said. “This issue is in danger of setting us back from the progress we’ve made in positioning Charlotte as an attractive, inclusive destination,” Murray said.

Tourism and hospitality serves as the Charlotte region’s fourth largest industry, generating more than $6.3 billion a year, according to the CRVA, a public organization supported by taxes on hotel and motel rooms and restaurant and bar tabs. Those tax dollars can be used only to promote the city or for tourism projects and research.

It is important to remember what is ultimately behind this vicious law: the desire of Christofascists to feel superior to others and to punish those who fail to conform to their fear and hate based religious beliefs.  

In terms of the lawsuit filed yesterday to challenge this anti-LGBT law, The New Civil Rights Movement has details.  Here are highlights:

Two civil rights groups and three people have joined to file a lawsuit against North Carolina over HB 2, the discriminatory anti-LGBT law the General Assembly passed and Gov. Pat McCrory signed into law on March 23. 

The ACLU of North Carolina, Lambda Legal, and three individuals filed the lawsuit overnight in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, Buzzfeed's Dominic Holden and Chris Geidner first reported.

Citing the 14th Amendment and Title IX of the Education Act of 1972, the suit names Gov. Pat McCrory, Attorney General Roy Cooper, the University of North Carolina, its Board of Governors, and several UNC officials as defendants.

“By singling out LGBT people for disfavored treatment and explicitly writing discrimination against transgender people into state law, H.B. 2 violates the most basic guarantees of equal treatment and the U.S. Constitution,” the 45-page lawsuit charges.

The suit clearly notes the anti-LGBT animus that lawmakers displayed when they "rushed to convene a special session with the express purpose of passing a statewide law that would preempt Charlotte’s 'radical' move to protect its residents from discrimination."

"In a process rife with procedural irregularities, the legislature introduced and passed H.B. 2 in a matter of hours, and the governor signed the bill into law that same day," the lawsuit states. "Lawmakers made no attempt to cloak their actions in a veneer of neutrality, instead openly and virulently attacking transgender people, who were falsely portrayed as predatory and dangerous to others. While the discriminatory, stated focus of the legislature in passing H.B. 2—the use of restrooms by transgender people—is on its own illegal and unconstitutional, H.B. 2 in facts wreaks far greater damage by also prohibiting local governments in North Carolina from enacting express anti-discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity."

Holden and Geidner note that in "17 states and 225 cities with laws banning LGBT discrimination, there are no known instances of the rules being used to defend or facilitate predatory behavior in bathrooms or locker rooms." 

ACLU and Lambda Legal to Sue North Carolina

Not surprisingly, the ACLU and Lambda Legal have announced that they will be filing suit against the state of North Carolina seeking to have HB 2 struck down.  Given the similarity between what HB 2 does and what was attempted in Colorado in the early 1990's that lead to the Supreme Court ruling in Romer v. Evans, the bill's life should be short lived.  Towleroad provides some details.  Here are highlights:

The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of North Carolina, Lambda Legal, and Equality NC are planning to announce a federal lawsuit on Monday challenging North Carolina’s HB 2, the legislation passed by Republicans last week in a rushed special session.

The draconian bill not only overturned Charlotte’s LGBT ordinance, but banned all LGBT nondiscrimination ordinances statewide and also prohibited local municipalities from setting the minimum wage higher than the state.

The lawsuit is being filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina on behalf of several organizations and individuals who will be harmed by the law, according to a press release from the organizations.

Other anti-transgender measures have failed recently in South Dakota and Indiana. Close to 200 bills that authorize discrimination against LGBT people have been introduced in state legislatures across the country since January 2016.

Seemingly, Republican self-prostitution to the Christofascists knows few limits.  Meanwhile, a number of friends have indicated that they plan to cancel plans to travel to the state and will be boycotting North Carolina based businesses, including Food Lion, and moving bank accounts from North Carolina based banks.

The Growing Backlash Against North Carolina’s Anti-LGBT Law

Apparent mental midget NC Gov. Pat McCory

Driving back from Richmond, I listened to among other things an interview with the director of Equality North Carolina who expressed the view that North Carolina Republicans seemingly thought that, if they rammed the state's new anti-LGBT law through in a single day, then they could avoid the backlash that Georgia is experiencing as that state's Governor tries to decide whether to veto the Georgia bill.  Whatever the North Carolina GOP cretins may have thought, they are quickly finding that escaping a severe backlash was a fantasy on their part.  Major corporations, pro-sports leagues and many others are raising an outcry and their may be very real economic consequences - especially if the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals finds that anti-transgender action violates Title IX and North Carolina loses $4.5 billion in federal education funding.   A piece in Think Progress looks at the growing backlash.  Here are highlights:

North Carolina’s legislation, which was passed by the legislature and signed into law by the governor in just one day, is targeted at undoing an LGBT nondiscrimination ordinance recently passed in Charlotte by banning any local nondiscrimination laws. But it also goes much further, banning transgender people from using bathrooms that match their gender unless they change their birth certificates, preventing civil suits even when discrimination is documented, and prohibiting cities and counties from passing employment requirements — a higher minimum wage or paid sick days, for instance — that go beyond state law.

While San Francisco is the first governmental entity to take a stand against the law, a huge number of businesses have already spoken out. A number of technology companies — including IBM, which has a big presence in the state; PayPal, which just announced the opening of a new office there; Apple; Facebook; Google; and Salesforce — have all spoken out against the law. 

In the sports world, the NBA, which is set to host the All-Star Game in Charlotte next year, has spoken out against the law and put the location of that event into question. The NCAA, which is planing to hold the men’s basketball tournament in the state in 2017 and 2018, says it’s monitoring the situation, as is the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the oldest African-American sports conference, which holds its annual basketball tournament in the state every year. Meanwhile, ESPN had been considering Charlotte for a possible site for the X Games in the summer but has now said it embraces “diversity and inclusion and will evaluate all of our options.” 

Others have joined in as well. American Airlines, whose second-largest hub is in Charlotte, said, “Laws that allow such discrimination go against our fundamental belief of equality and are bad for the economies of the states in which they are enacted.” Lowe’s, based in Mooresville, said it “opposes any measure in any state that would encourage or allow discrimination.” Dow Chemical, which has several factories in the state, tweeted that it is “disappointed” in the signing of the law, and Biogen, a biotech company that employs more than 1,000 people in the state, also tweeted its opposition.