Rep. Billy Richardson: "I was wrong to vote for HB2"
Published April 12, 2016
by Billy Richardson, NC House of Representatives, published in Fayetteville Observer, April 12, 2016.
By enacting House Bill 2, the legislature did the wrong thing. I made the wrong vote and we must now make it right.
My parents raised me to avoid any rush to judgment and to consider the consequences of my decisions. They stressed to me that I will make mistakes but, when made, never, never compound a mistake by sitting silent and failing to own up to the error.
Upon prayer and reflection, I have come to realize that I need to take action now. I will not be silent and allow North Carolina's values to be undermined by the travesty that is HB2.
As a lawyer, I have stood with the defenseless because our Constitution says - actually demands - that all Americans have basic rights and, by protecting those rights, we can all truly share in the blessings of being an American.
Since our hasty vote on HB2, I have been haunted by the fact that in one rushed action, I undermined a lifetime of fighting against those who would demonize a group of citizens to gain political advantage and to advance an unjust agenda.
Instead of recognizing the right to be free of discrimination based on one's sexual orientation, HB2 gives green light to this discrimination in housing, employment and other areas. To paraphrase Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, we must never make any group of citizens a stranger to the laws of their own state.
Closing courts
Because of HB2, we now live in a state that has closed our state courts to citizens who suffer discrimination for practicing their Christian faith or other religious beliefs, or because of their race, color, national origin, age, sex or disability. HB2 prevents local governments from enacting laws that respond to the concerns of their constituents.
HB2 also costs our state and our citizens jobs - high-paying, life-enriching jobs - that may now to go South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia or other states that have not taken this divisive path.
I call on my fellow legislators, the speaker, the president pro tem and the governor to repeal this hurtful, overreaching and unnecessary law. When the legislature reconvenes, I will support legislation toward that end.
In America and in the Old North State, we celebrate diversity, we don't condemn it. In North Carolina we defend people's equal protection under our laws, we don't diminish them. In North Carolina, we do the right thing, even when it is hard.
Let's do what we North Carolinians do when we are at our best and choose restraint over raw emotion. Let's choose local government and let it be truly accountable to its citizens. Let's choose rational, deliberative action and enact a law that accomplishes only what we intended to do. Let's not end North Carolina's history of moderation. Let's admit we were wrong and actually fix our real problems.
You can't fix a wrong until you acknowledge a mistake. I was wrong and I will stand with all North Carolinians who dream of fulfilling the words of the official toast for our Old North State, "where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great."
Billy Richardson, a Democrat, represents the 44th District of the North Carolina House of Representatives. He is a lawyer and founding partner of The Richardson Firm in Fayetteville. He also owns a company that operates apartment communities in Cumberland County and elsewhere in North Carolina.
April 12, 2016 at 10:03 am
Norm Kelly says:
Ah, a squishy demon. Wonder if Bill is running for re-election and this is the cause of his change of mind.
Protecting all citizens is what the legislature is supposed to do.
Creating special interest groups is what demon pols do. Creating special interest groups that buys votes is what demons do. Creating special interest groups is what sketchy pols do, not those who understand they serve to represent ALL citizens, whether we voted for that pol or not, whether we fall into one of their protected groups or not. Bill is supposed to represent all of us, and make sure no laws are passed that cause us to suffer actual harm or peril.
Telling a cross-dresser that they can't legally use the wrong bathroom doesn't cause anyone actual harm or peril.
Allowing men to use ladies rooms (toilet or shower) actually can cause someone of the actual sex harm. Someone who is forced to share a public room with someone who 'identifies' as the wrong sex could actually suffer mental anguish.
And someone who shares the wrong public room with my wife, daughter, granddaughter, or other family member may suffer more than mental harm. If you got a penis, and you were born with it, then you belong in the men's room.
I think we have actual real problems that need to be addressed in our state. Yet we have lib pols, LGBT people, and demons who are hell bent on forcing ridiculous, potentially harmful rules/regulations and costly ordinances down our throats.
For every lib that whines our legislature should be concentrating on real actual problems, let everyone remember that it was lib, demon, LGBT people who foisted this problem into the forefront. It was not Republicans, conservatives, or Christians who went out looking for an issue to deal with. It was 'those people' who created the problem and wanted the rest of us to ignore them. Or those same lib, demon, LGBT people who intentionally went out of their way to create a problem for political purposes.
Wouldn't put it past demons to have created this issue on purpose.
Seems the only group NOT protected by demons is Christians. Oh, and perhaps men. And worst of all for a lib would be a white male Christian. That's the main reason I now identify as a black female. Gets me out of the cross-hairs of lib pols. Now you can't disagree with me or you will prove yourself a racist as well as a sexist. And not a very good lib at that. If someone born with a vagina can self-identify as a man, which lib out there is going to claim I can't self-identify as a black female? I figure if I can't beat yous guys, I can join you. And, based on your own schemes and illogic, you can't stop me or question me. I play by your rules, you gotta accept me. After all, if you are confused, which is true of lib-dom, then you can't stop me from joining in on your confusion. How does that make you 'feel'? Just don't try to whine about it or stop me. I know, as a lib, your default reaction is to whine. Get over yourself and enjoy the freedom that I now experience as a black female!
I pray that Bill isn't re-elected. Anyone in Bill's district needs to vote against him on principal.
