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.

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." 

Gaming Convention Threatens to Boycott Indianapolis

Indiana - home of special rights for Christofascists

The Republican controlled Indiana legislature has passed a license to discriminate law that would grant special rights to Christofascists in order to enable them to refuse service to or interaction with those who offend their religious beliefs. It is part and parcel with the larger agenda of the Republican Party to shamelessly prostitute itself to hate-filled, ignorance embracing, knuckle dragging "godly Christians" in order to (i) protect its elected officials from primary challenges and (ii) get the spittle flecked, Kool-Aid drinking set to turn out on election day.  The tawdriest of whores is virtuous compared to today's Republicans.  But the political prostitutes may be hitting the first of many downsides of their disgusting self-prostitution.  The Gen Con gaming convention has sent a letter to Indiana governor Mike Pence threatening to pull its convention from Indianapolis if Pence signs the legislation into law.  Here are excerpts from Gen Con's letter to Pence:

“Legislation that could allow for refusal of service or discrimination against our attendees will have a direct negative impact on the state's economy, and will factor into our decision-making on hosting the convention in the state of Indiana in future years. . . .Gen Con proudly welcomes a diverse attendee base, made up of different ethnicities, cultures, beliefs, sexual orientations, gender identities, abilities, and socio-economic backgrounds,” she wrote. “We are happy to provide an environment that welcomes all, and the wide-ranging diversity of our attendees has become a key element to the success and growth of our convention.”

We ask that you reconsider your support for SB 101.

Candidly, Pence is a nasty piece of work and he is likely to sign the bill.  If that happens, Gen Con needs to follow though on its threat and find a new location for its event.  Hopefully, other organizations will join suit and Indiana will pay a real financial price for its backwardness and bigotry.

P.S. For those in states that have enacted such laws, please read the language of the applicable statute carefully.  If the wording is broad enough, these laws need to be used to discriminate against far right Christians by citing "religious belief" - e.g., they are the modern day version of Biblical Pharisees and need to be shunned.  If (i) I lived in a state with such a law and (ii) I still had my own firm, nothing would give me more joy that showing a Chridstofascist to the door and telling them that they are unwanted.