Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Pat McCrory and North Carolina

Perhaps trying to get ahead of the curve before the United States Department of Justice could act, prostitute-in-chief to the Christofascists in North Carolina, Gov. Pat McCrory filed a lawsuit against the federal government defending the anti-LGBT law he signed into law in a likely attempt to save his sorry ass from defeat in November by rallying the knuckle dragging, spittle flecked elements of the GOP base.  The irony, of course is that McCrory's lawsuit runs directly against the recent 4th Circuit rulin in the Gavin Grim case pending in Virginia.  Hence, the rejection of McCrory's lawsuit is almost guaranteed given the binding precedent in the Grimm case.  Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice filed its own lawsuit this afternoon seeking a court order barring the enforcement of the Christofascists inspired and backed HB2.  The Washington Post looks at the federal lawsuit and possible consequences for McCrory and his fellow pandering whores in the North Carolina GOP.  Adding to the fun is the likelihood that North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper will refuse to defend against the DOJ Lawsuit.  Here are excerpts:

North Carolina and the Justice Department announced on Monday dueling lawsuits over the state’s so-called “bathroom bill,” which has become the epicenter of a larger fight over transgender rights. . . . the Justice Department’s civil rights office said the measure is discriminatory and violates civil rights.

“This action is about a great deal more than just bathrooms,” Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said during a news conference after the Justice Department’s lawsuit was filed. “This is about the dignity and respect we accord our fellow citizens and the laws that we, as a people and as a country, have enacted to protect them.”

Lynch on Monday linked the bill with a dark legacy that included Jim Crow laws and resistance to the Brown v. Board of Education decision.

“It was not so very long ago that states, including North Carolina, had signs above restrooms, water fountains and on public accommodations keeping people out based upon a distinction without a difference,” said Lynch, who is also a North Carolina native, during her unusually impassioned remarks.

Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, said Monday that calling the law a “bathroom bill,” as it has become commonly known, “trivializes” the measure’s true impact, which she said could impact state employees, students and sports fans alike.  “It speaks to all of us who have ever been made to feel inferior – like somehow we just don’t belong in our community, like somehow we just don’t fit in,” Gupta said. “Let me reassure every transgender individual, right here in America, that you belong just as you are.”

North Carolina receives more than $4 billion in federal education funding each year, much of it in the form of student loans, and the Education Department has said it is reviewing whether to withhold that money due to the bathroom law. The government has withheld funds from schools before over civil rights issues, holding back money from dozens of districts in Southern states that refused to desegregate in the 1960s.

The Justice Department’s lawsuit, in addition to naming the state of North Carolina, also includes the state’s department of public safety, and the University of North Carolina and the school’s board of governors.

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper (D), who will face McCrory in what is expected to be a close gubernatorial election in November, has said he will not defend the measure. He said Monday that McCrory was “pouring gas on the fire that he lit” by filing a lawsuit against the federal government.

“Instead of doing what’s right for our state, he’s doubling down on what he knows he did wrong,” Cooper said in a video message Monday. “Enough is enough.”

Three groups challenging the bathroom measure in federal court-American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of North Carolina and Lambda Legal-released a statement saying that McCrory “doubled down on discrimination” against transgender people with his suit Monday.  Transgender people work for the state of North Carolina, attend school in North Carolina, and are a part of every community across the state,” the groups said in their statement. “It is unconscionable that the government is placing a target on their backs to advance this discriminatory political agenda. Lawsuits are normally filed to stop discrimination – not to continue it.”

While I hold no ill will toward average citizens of North Carolina, I hope that the Justice Department will play real hard ball with McCrory and the state.  If it takes withholding federal funds and causing a financial crisis in North Carolina to get the point across, so be it.  Religious based ignorance and bigotry have NO PLACE in the civil laws and North Carolina needs to pay the price of electing Christofascist puppets to both the governorship and the state legislature.  As the chaos goes forward, average citizens need to be reminded again and again that the true source of the upheaval is the  Christofascists who want to impose their Bronze Age beliefs on all and the sorry political whores in the GOP who are only to happy to serve as their prostitutes.   The Christofascists need to become political and social pariahs who are avoided by decent, moral people.  As for the "good Christians," I am still waiting to see more of them get off their assess, break their silence and loudly attack their hate-filled fellow believers.   If they fail to do so, then they need to be painted with the same anti-modern day Pharisee brush.

Department of Justice to North Carolina: HB2 Violates the Civil Rights Act

Political whores in the North Carolina GOP who laughed off the possible consequences of their shameless self-prostitution to Christofascists may be experiencing stomach clenching - and other parts of their anatomy clenching -  despite their posturing and anti-Washington blustering after today's announcement by the United States Department of Justice that anti-LGBT HB2 violates the Civil Rights Act.   More to the point, North Carolina was given until Monday to cease enforcing the discriminatory law.   I for one sincerely hope that federal funds are stopped and that these assholes are forced to figure out how they are going will explain to voters why they threw away billions of dollars in federal funding just to pander to Christian extremists who are nearly as demented as ISIS followers.   A piece in the Charlotte Observer looks at the much increased stakes now facing the anti-LGBT bigots in the North Carolina GOP.  Here are highlights:

RALEIGH - U.S. Justice Department officials repudiated North Carolina’s House Bill 2 on Wednesday, telling Gov. Pat McCrory that the law violates the U.S. Civil Rights Act and Title IX – a finding that could jeopardize billions in federal education funding.

The department gave state officials until Monday to respond “by confirming that the State will not comply with or implement HB2.”

The letter says HB2, which pre-empted Charlotte’s anti-discrimination ordinance, violates Title IX, which bars discrimination in education based on sex, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which bans employment discrimination.

If the finding is upheld, North Carolina could lose federal education funding. During the current school year, state public schools received $861 million. In 2014-2015, the University of North Carolina system got $1.4 billion.

Speaking to business leaders Wednesday night, McCrory called the letter “something we’ve never seen regarding Washington overreach in my lifetime.” . . . . GOP lawmakers also criticized the Justice Department – and President Barack Obama. 

[O]pponents of HB2 applauded the Justice Department finding.

“The letter confirms what we’ve already known – that HB2 is deeply discriminatory, violates federal civil rights law, and needs to be repealed as soon as possible,” said Rep. Chris Sgro, a Democrat who is executive director of Equality NC. “We’ve already lost $500 million in economic impact, and now we are violating federal civil rights law and risking Title IX funding.”

Again, the feds need to withdraw all federal funding if North Carolina does not comply and hang the economic disaster around the necks of McCrory and his GOP sycophants and, of course, the Christofascists who need to become social and political lepers.   The terms "Christian" and "decent people" need to become mutually exclusive in the public mindset.

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.

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.

Oklahoma Drops National Guard Benefits For All Couples Rather Than Recognize Gay Couples

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R)

This blog has noted before the refusal of some states to provided benefits to all legally married couples - particularly gay couples - where a  spouse is a member of the National Guard.  Sadly, the Defense Department has failed to date to hit these renegades states where it hurts: stop all federal funding and take back federally provided equipment and aircraft.  The result is that now Oklahoma is going to deny benefits to all married guard members rather than provide benefits to gay couples legally married in other states and recognized as being married by the federal government.  It's the ultimate in batshitery, but such passes as principled stands in today's GOP and, of course in Christofascist circles.  Here are excerpts from a piece in Think Progress:

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) announced earlier this month that state-owned National Guard facilities will no longer allow any married couples to apply for spousal benefits, regardless of whether they are same-sex or opposite-sex. The Supreme Court’s decision overturning the Defense of Marriage Act means that servicemembers with same-sex spouses are now eligible for federal benefits. Fallin’s unusual tactic is designed to avoid having to recognize those couples, which she asserts would violate Oklahoma’s constitutional amendment limiting marriage to one man and one woman:

FALLIN: Oklahoma law is clear. The state of Oklahoma does not recognize same-sex marriages, nor does it confer marriage benefits to same-sex couples. The decision reached today allows the National Guard to obey Oklahoma law without violating federal rules or policies. It protects the integrity of our state constitution and sends a message to the federal government that they cannot simply ignore our laws or the will of the people.

This decision directly contradicts an order from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordering states to provide same-sex couples with the federal benefits they deserve under the law. All married couples will now have to travel to one of the five federal facilities in Oklahoma to apply for benefits.

Incidentally, the state’s facilities were built almost entirely with federal funds and 90 percent of the Oklahoma Military Department — which includes the National Guard — is funded by the federal government.

Fallin’s tactic mirrors other attempts to punish an entire group to avoid serving the gay community. When marriage equality came to the District of Columbia, Catholic Charities decided to stop offering partner benefits to all employees to avoid having to provide them to any employee’s same-sex spouse. In various states, Catholic Charities has also abandoned all adoption services to avoid having to provide them to same-sex couples.

Oklahoma is not alone in defying Hagel’s orders. The Texas Military Force acknowledged this week that it will not allow same-sex couples to apply for a housing allowance at state-run National Guard facilities, having already turned away at least one couple. Mississippi, Louisiana, and Georgia have also refused to comply, but some states that previously had balked have begun complying, like West Virginia. A total of 29 states have constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage, but most are complying with the federal recognition for purposes of the National Guard.

Meanwhile, Virginia is among the states that have ordered same-sex couples to file their taxes separately.

As stated above, Hagel needs to stop all federal monies going to Oklahoma's national guard.  Let Fallin go to the public in her state and explain why she needs to increase taxes to replace the lost funding.  The irony of it all, of course, is that the sole reason for Fallin's behavior is the Christofascists' desire to stigmatize gays and give them a basis to fell superior over others.  It's beyond sick.  The Christofascists and their political whores in the GOP are not nice and decent people and the rest of America needs to understand this and treat them like the pariahs they are to constitutional government.

Saturday Musings

We were watching the Logo channel this morning - yes we do now have Logo available in Norfolk - and a story was on about Matthew James, a young gay college student who had been expelled from Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, for being gay (based on Lee's own website, only 9% of the student body is non-caucasian). During his interview, he discussed how his room was secretly searched and materials taken by the administration, including a DVD of "Latter Days." One of the things that the administration of the college tried to force James to do was enroll in an Exodus ex-gay program.

James' own parents had previously placed him in an ex-gay counseling program. Anyone reading this Blog knows that in my view, Exodus is a fraud and should be shut down. It is clear from Matt James' statements that he tried - much as I did - to immerse himself in religion to make the gay go away (it was one of the reasons he went to Lee University). As any rational person knows, it just doesn't work. In fact, it is now my view, that parents who place their children in such programs are guilty of child abuse and, in a more perfect world, ought to be prosecuted for the psychological harm they do to their children.

Last fall, I posted about a great column that addressed the damage this type of child abuse does and the fact that it is one of the few forms of child abuse still openly condoned in many quarters. That post is here: http://michael-in-norfolk.blogspot.com/2006/09/i-came-across-this-column-on-blog.html. I recommend it to anyone who has not previously read it. Anger in me generated by that column, inspiration I received from reading Matt's coming out story over at Debriefing the Boys, and encouragement from my therapist resulted in me deciding to start this Blog.

After the Matt James story, After that, Rachel Madow did a follow up story on the numerous "Christian" colleges and universities that have policies similar to that of Lee University. What I found most maddening is that many of these institution receive federal funding even though they actively discriminate on the basis of religion, Matthew James being one example. In my opinion, such colleges and universities should be barred from receiving ANY tax derived funds. They can discriminate if they want in pursuing their sick version of Christianity, but no taxpayer should have to indirectly fund these institutions. In short, if they want to discriminate, they need to get their snouts out of the federal funding trough.