Tag: North Carolina

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North Carolina Transgender Residents Share Their Shock & Frustration Over HB2

Produced by the Raleigh News & Observer, this video shares the confusion, shock, dismay and frustration of North Carolina transgender residents in the aftermath of the passage of HB2, which makes using a public bathroom which corresponds to their gender identity illegal.

Watch as these transgender residents explain the impact of HB2 on their lives.

Look at these folks – is it hard to guess which restrooms they should be using?

Imagine the men pictured here walking into a women’s room. Or, this woman strolling into the men’s room.

Once you do, I think you’ll understand the issue.

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Deutsche Bank Puts New Jobs On Hold In North Carolina Due To Anti-LGBT “Hate Bill”

Deutsche Bank has hit the “pause” button on plans to bring 250 new jobs to its Cary, North Carolina, location after the state passed a controversial law targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens.

Reuters has the details:

“We take our commitment to building inclusive work environments seriously,” John Cryan, the chief executive of Germany’s largest lender, said in a statement on Tuesday.

North Carolina became the first state last month to enact a measure requiring people to use bathrooms or locker rooms in schools and other public facilities that match the gender on their birth certificate rather than their gender identity.

“We’re proud of our operations and employees in Cary and regret that as a result of this legislation we are unwilling to include North Carolina in our U.S. expansion plans for now,” Deutsche Bank’s Cryan said.

Deutsche Bank currently employs about 900 people at its software application development center in Cary and had said in September 2015 that it aimed to add 250 jobs there by 2017.

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Planting Peace Plants Billboard On North Carolina Border Protesting HB2

From Planting Peace:

On March 23, in a specially-convened session, the North Carolina legislation passed into law HB2, a law that was initiated to strike down a Charlotte anti-discrimination ordinance that was set to go into effect April 1 and would have extended rights to the LGBT community.

Since HB2 has been signed into law, North Carolina has been met with backlash from the business community, legal challenges from LGBT rights groups and outrage from citizens throughout the United States.

When North Carolina and other legislators pass anti-LGBT laws and speak anti-LGBT rhetoric, they are sending a direct message to our LGBT family that they are somehow less than, broken, and not equal under the law. These messages reflect why suicide rates among the LGBT community are so high. It’s estimated that half of transgender people contemplate suicide.

In response to North Carolina passing of HB2, Planting Peace has constructed a message to North Carolina legislators and the anti-LGBT movement.

Our billboard is a reminder that laws such as HB2 move us backwards in the movement for equality and fundamental human rights for all. It is also meant to show the LGBT community and North Carolina that advocacy groups such as Planting Peace and others are willing to fight.

We have to meet hate with love; intolerance with compassion. To deny any individual basic human rights based on your individual beliefs is outrageous and unethical.

Our message to our LGBT youth is simple:

You are loved, valued, supported, and beautiful. There is nothing wrong with you, and we will stand by you. You are not alone.

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Steven Van Zandt On Cancelled North Carolina Concert: Economic Impact Is All The Haters Understand

E-Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt spoke to the Associated Press after Bruce Springsteen and the band canceled their North Carolina concert due to the state’s new anti-LGBT law, HB 2.

From Rolling Stone:

“We just felt the issue was just too important,” Van Zandt said. “This really vile and evil discrimination is starting to spread state to state and we thought, ‘We better take a stand right now and catch it early.’”

“It’s unfortunately the only way people understand. You have to hurt them economically in order to have them do the right thing morally, unfortunately,” the guitarist said, adding that he hoped Springsteen’s efforts in the state would “set some kind of example for others.”

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Bruce Springsteen Cancels North Carolina Concert To Stand With LGBT “Freedom Fighters”

Bruce Springsteen cancels North Carolina concert over attack on LGBT rights

Bruce Springsteen proves, once again, that he is The Boss.

From his official website:

As you, my fans, know I’m scheduled to play in Greensboro, North Carolina this Sunday. As we also know, North Carolina has just passed HB2, which the media are referring to as the “bathroom” law. HB2 — known officially as the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act — dictates which bathrooms transgender people are permitted to use. Just as important, the law also attacks the rights of LGBT citizens to sue when their human rights are violated in the workplace.

No other group of North Carolinians faces such a burden. To my mind, it’s an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress. Right now, there are many groups, businesses, and individuals in North Carolina working to oppose and overcome these negative developments. Taking all of this into account, I feel that this is a time for me and the band to show solidarity for those freedom fighters.

As a result, and with deepest apologies to our dedicated fans in Greensboro, we have canceled our show scheduled for Sunday, April 10th. 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. It is the strongest means I have for raising my voice in opposition to those who continue to push us backwards instead of forwards.

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band’s April 10th show is canceled. Tickets will be refunded at point of purchase.

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Atlanta Joins North Carolina Travel Ban Over HB 2

At last count, the cities and states with travel bans to North Carolina – over the anti-LGBT HB 2 legislation – include Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, New York City, New York state, Vermont, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Washington state.

You can now add Atlanta to the list:

Atlanta’s mayor has issued a travel ban to North Carolina. This comes after controversy over a nondiscrimination bill that some believe allows for discrimination.

Mayor Kasim Reed’s office issued the following statement Monday: “As a result of Governor Pat McCrory’s decision to sign discriminatory and unnecessary legislation into law, effective today I am directing all City departments to stop non-essential, publicly-funded employee travel to the State of North Carolina.

“I extend my support to Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts, who worked to enhance protections for the city’s LGBT population, as well as to the LGBT residents of North Carolina. Every person, regardless of their gender, gender expression or sexuality is a valued member of our community.”

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PayPal Cancels 400 Jobs In North Carolina Over Anti-LGBT Legislation

As a result of the recently passed HB 2, which legalizes discrimination against LGBTs in North Carolina, PayPal has cancelled plans to bring a new operations center (and 400 jobs) to Charlotte, North Carolina.

The law wiped out local municipalities’ ability to pass local ordinances protecting LGBT North Carolinians from discrimination, and put anti-transgender policies into place.

From the official statement from PayPal CEO Dan Schulman:

Two weeks ago, PayPal announced plans to open a new global operations center in Charlotte and employ over 400 people in skilled jobs. In the short time since then, legislation has been abruptly enacted by the State of North Carolina that invalidates protections of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender citizens and denies these members of our community equal rights under the law.

The new law perpetuates discrimination and it violates the values and principles that are at the core of PayPal’s mission and culture. As a result, PayPal will not move forward with our planned expansion into Charlotte.

This decision reflects PayPal’s deepest values and our strong belief that every person has the right to be treated equally, and with dignity and respect. These principles of fairness, inclusion and equality are at the heart of everything we seek to achieve and stand for as a company. And they compel us to take action to oppose discrimination.

Our decision is a clear and unambiguous one. But we do regret that we will not have the opportunity to be a part of the Charlotte community and to count as colleagues the skilled and talented people of the region. As a company that is committed to the principle that everyone deserves to live without fear of discrimination simply for being who they are, becoming an employer in North Carolina, where members of our teams will not have equal rights under the law, is simply untenable.

While we will seek an alternative location for our operations center, we remain committed to working with the LGBT community in North Carolina to overturn this discriminatory legislation, alongside all those who are committed to equality.

We will stand firm in our commitment to equality and inclusion and our conviction that we can make a difference by living and acting on our values. It’s the right thing to do for our employees, our customers, and our communities.

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North Carolina: Asheville Rally Displays Support & Opposition For HB 2

Photographic journalist Max Cooper covered today’s rally in downtown Asheville, North Carolina, as groups of haters and pro-LGBT folks voiced their support/opposition of the recent HB 2, which gutted LGBT rights in the state.

The folks from anti-LGBT organization Keep NC Safe Coalition rolled out a huge banner which allegedly displayed the mugshots of trans people. No crimes were listed, and I’m not really sure what the exercise was meant to prove – if you’ve been arrested you don’t get to use the bathroom ever again? No cisgender folks have ever been arrested?

At one point during Cooper’s Twitter coverage, he noted the folks who oppose the anti-LGBT legislation outnumbered haters 3 – 1.

More at Max Cooper’s Twitter feed.

(h/t JMG)

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Anti-LGBT Law In North Carolina May Put Federal Funds At Risk

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory

In the aftermath of the passage of North Carolina’s virulently anti-LGBT law, HB 2, the Obama administration is now considering whether the legislation makes North Carolina ineligible for federal funds to the tune of billions of dollars for education, highways and more.

From the New York Times:

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.

The North Carolina law created a mandatory statewide anti-discrimination policy, but it did not include specific protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The law prohibits transgender people from using public bathrooms that do not match the sexes on their birth certificates.

The Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Education and Transportation have all confirmed to the NY Times they are reviewing whether the new North Carolina law would risk currently funding.

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North Carolina: Mexican Restaurant Pescado’s Burritos Makes Bathrooms Unisex For All

While the new, anti-LGBT law HB 2 in North Carolina instructs private business owners that they may have to “police” their bathrooms to make sure patrons who use them access the “biologically correct” space, Mexican restaurant Pescado’s Burritos in Brevard, North Carolina, has chosen to address the issue by making both of their patron’s bathrooms unisex.

We have UNISEX bathrooms because sometimes gender specific toilets put others into uncomfortable situations.

And since we have a lot of our friends, community members, and family members coming to see us, we want to provide a safe and comfortable place for everyone, including: Dads with daughters, Moms with sons, Parents with disabled children, Those in the LGBTQ community, Adults with aging parents who may be mentally or physically disabled.

THANK YOU for helping us to provide a safe environment for EVERYONE!

The two bathrooms are each “one person” non-gender specific, so no matter which a patron uses it’s all good.

Of course, all around the world businesses have learned to do this. I don’t know why more businesses don’t do this.

The response on Facebook has been overwhelmingly positive. Bravo, Pescado’s Burritos!