RALEIGH, N.C. — When is an HB2 “compromise” not a compromise? When it’s even worse than the original.
Under pressure from the NBA to repeal HB2 by the end of the summer — or risk losing the All-Star Game in Charlotte — lawmakers have proposed a so-called “compromise” that does nothing to address the most objectionable parts of HB2. Instead, it would go even further by forcing some transgender people to register with the state in order to use facilities matching their gender identity.
“The forced registration of an oppressed minority sounds more like 1930s Germany than North Carolina in 2016,” said Gerrick Brenner, executive director of Progress NC Action. “What’s next, making transgender people wear a little yellow ‘T’ on their chest? This so-called ‘compromise’ would only further stigmatize the LGBT community, and open the door to even more state-sponsored discrimination. It’s no wonder the NBA already thinks HB 2.0 is an airball.”
HB 2.0 would still ban a majority of transgender people who haven’t had reassignment surgery (often for medical or financial reasons) from using facilities matching their gender identity, which means this so-called “compromise” would do nothing to address the concerns that the NBA, PayPal, Replacements Ltd., and other major employers have raised. In fact, the NBA has already said that HB 2.0 doesn’t change their mind about re-evaluating North Carolina’s ability to host the All-Star Game next year.
“The time for ‘compromising’ on civil rights is over,” added Brenner. “The only thing that will restore North Carolina’s reputation with the business community and the rest of the world is a full repeal of HB2.”
Meanwhile, Gov. McCrory and state lawmakers are under fire for diverting half a million dollars from the state’s Emergency Response and Disaster Relief Fund in order to defend HB2 in court.
“The legislature’s diversion of disaster relief money to defend HB2 is an admission that HB2 is itself a disaster for the state,” added Brenner. “The shame in Raleigh is that politicians are using money meant for natural disasters to pay for a legal fight to defend their own man-made disaster. The simple solution is to fully repeal HB2, and that won’t cost a dime.”
