Mar 25, 2016
Equality NC calls on North Carolina's General Assembly to Repeal and Replace Harmful Discrimination Bill In Short Session
Calls HB2 Bad for Business and Bad for North Carolina
Raleigh, N.C. — This week, the North Carolina General Assembly rushed through the most sweeping anti-LGBT bill in the nation. North Carolina is now suffering the backlash and consequences of ill-considered, negligent legislation. The harmful HB2 has opened the door to open discrimination against the LGBT community. Many legislators did not get to see the bill before they arrived that Wednesday morning and were given a mere 5 minutes to read over it. Public comment was held to 30 minutes, making it clear that lawmakers were not interested in the public's opinion on the bill.
North Carolina now suffers the consequences that Equality NC has previously warned lawmakers of. The rushed process has created a bill that eliminates the ability to sue based on any discrimination, when it eliminated employees’ ability to take discrimination cases to state court, including cases based on race or religion . Major companies headquartered or doing business in North Carolina have come out against this shameful legislation. Companies such as Lowe's, Google, American Airlines, Marriott, SalesForce, Dow Chemical, Wells Fargo, Biogen, Bayer, Pay Pal, Apple, Red Hat, IBM, Bank of America, Citrix, Facebook, NCAA and the NBA have all made public statements against the bill. Charlotte may lose the NBA All-Star Game and millions of dollars in revenue. Hundreds of thousands of dollars that were spent on a new tourism campaign are now overshadowed by the action of a handful of extremist in Raleigh. North Carolina should be a welcoming state to all. A state that fosters diversity and attracts talent from across the nation. Instead within a 12 hour period, NCGA leaders and Governor McCrory rushed a bill through that is the worst anti-LGBT bill in the US.
“Governor McCrory and the NCGA have put our state in harm’s way. They passed a broad bill with terrible consequences - those intended and those unintended. In order to score political points and discriminate against gay and transgender North Carolinians, they have written a bill that is terrible for our community, our economic development prospects, and employment best practices,” said Equality NC Executive Director Chris Sgro. “We are calling on the General Assembly and Governor McCrory to act swiftly. The short session must be used to repeal HB2 and replace it with a comprehensive non-discrimination bill which includes sexual orientation and gender identity. Our members, partners, allies, and the business community will stand up and demand that NCGA act to fix this massive mistake it made. The NCGA must: Repeal HB2. Replace with comprehensive non-discrimination protections. Repair North Carolina’s national image.”
ABOUT EQUALITY NC: Equality NC is a statewide organization working to secure equal rights and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender North Carolinians. For more information, please visit www.equalitync.org