McCrory's HB2 tweaks won't stop the damage
Published April 14, 2016
Editorial by Fayetteville Observer, April 14, 2016.
Gov. Pat McCrory may have discovered that he's in a deep hole. He's digging a little slower, anyway.
He hasn't stopped. He still insists that House Bill 2 - which he and legislative leaders misleadingly call the "bathroom law" - will remain on the books and that he'll only ask the General Assembly to make a small change in it.
On Tuesday, the governor unveiled an executive order that he says will expand equal employment protection for state employees to include sexual orientation and gender. It also affirms private businesses' right to institute their own policies on the use of bathrooms and locker rooms by transgender people. House Bill 2 requires transgender people to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with the gender on their birth certificates.
McCrory said Tuesday that he'll also ask the General Assembly to restore state residents' rights to sue for discrimination in the workplace or in public accommodations. So far, legislative leaders have said they have no intention of reopening any part of HB2.
The governor is seeking shelter from an international wave of criticism and scorn for HB2. Heavy financial damage is putting deep dents in McCrory's vaunted "Carolina Comeback."
The announcement by PayPal that it was canceling plans to locate a global operations center in Charlotte - 400 jobs that won't be coming - was followed by Deutsche Bank's decision to halt an expansion that would have brought 250 jobs to Cary. Wake County economic developers told The News & Observer that companies planning five projects for that county - ranging from 75 to 1,000 jobs - had put the expansions on hold as they wait to see whether the state will change HB2. Numerous groups are canceling plans for North Carolina conventions. And the High Point Market, the annual furniture and design show that draws thousands of buyers from around the world (about $5 billion in business is done there) is seeing large-scale cancellations in protest of HB2.
All of that damage has happened within three weeks of HB2 becoming law. And McCrory's attempts at tweaking law and policy won't make a difference, because he's ignoring the core problem: HB2 allows discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identification. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people can be refused service or accommodation in North Carolina. They can be fired from their jobs because of who and what they are. And they have no legal protection or recourse in the state's courts.
Until that monument to bigotry is repealed, the deep damage to this state's reputation and economy will continue - and will likely escalate.
