State is hurting itself for no reason
Published August 8, 2016
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Graphic by WRAL[/caption]
Editorial by Wilmington Star-News, August 7, 2016.
A few tweaks were made to HB2, but the law remains mainly intact. We believe the legislature should repeal it in its entirety and start over.
With time made for deliberation that such a complicated and emotional subject needs and deserves, it should be debated thoughtfully, thoroughly and with plenty of public input. Concerns about privacy and safety need to be based on real evidence, not stereotypes, speculation or fear-mongering.
We would hope that the Jones Street Honorables would come back with a narrow law that respected the realities of life for transgender people, and also provided measures that prevented bathroom choice from being abused by those up to no good. We are convinced that fair accommodations can be made that do not give a high school football player the right to shower in the girls lockeroom.
That being said, we don’t think this legislature will repeal the law. As with several other contentious issues, we think the fate of HB2 is going to be decided in the courts.
So it was interesting to read about arguments heard last week by Federal Judge Thomas Schroeder on a motion that HB2 be suspended while it is being challenged.
The law bans people from using government-operated restrooms and locker rooms that do not match the gender on their birth certificates.
Schroeder, appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush, seemed to be baffled by the purpose of the bathroom portion of HB2 and the requirements it imposes:
“A transgender female who dresses as a female, lives life as a female and to all outward appearances is female is now supposed to use a men’s bathroom,” Schroeder said Monday during the hearing in Winston-Salem. “How on earth is that supposed to work?”
Butch Bowers, a private attorney representing Gov. Pat McCrory, answered:
“Partially by single-occupancy bathrooms, which admittedly are not available in all instances. And this would be purely speculation on my part: Some transgender individuals will continue to use the bathrooms they always have.”
“They would be violating the law,” Schroeder said.
“There’s no enforcement,” Bowers replied.
“Then why have a law?” the judge asked.
That, indeed, is the question.
HB2 is having a direct, negative economic impact on the state, the latest being the NBA’s decision to pull the 2017 NBA All-Star. Some businesses and organizations have ended plans to move to North Carolina. Many more are skeptical of considering our state for future business and events, including the NCAA and the PGA.
Fair or not, our reputation as a progressive Southern state is being damaged. And, like it or not, that reputation matters across the entire globe as people look to do business here.
Some say, “Who cares? Tell those outsiders to buzz off.”
It is certainly their right to take that stance. But it comes with a cost -- a cost to the financial health of our state.
Here’s the bottom line: Is it worth damaging our economy and reputation to keep intact an unnecessary law that even its defenders admit has no means of enforcement?
We offer a resounding, “no.”
August 8, 2016 at 11:59 pm
Janice Sutton says:
The means of enforcement will come when the girls want to throw the guy out of the restroom/shower, because he has male genitalia. He won't need to carry his birth certificate with him for us to determine his gender at birth. If he comes into the ladies room dressed as a woman, goes into a stall with a locked door and exits without incident, no one will know. If he comes in and is obviously just a "poser", there will be no way to legally remove him if this law is not in place.
August 14, 2016 at 10:35 pm
Norm Kelly says:
'With time made for deliberation that such a complicated and emotional subject needs and deserves, it should be debated thoughtfully, thoroughly and with plenty of public input. Concerns about privacy and safety need to be based on real evidence, not stereotypes, speculation or fear-mongering.'
Is this the process Charlotte went through BEFORE implementing an ordinance that could put people in jeopardy and WAS AN OVERREACH? Or is this ONLY the way Republicans are supposed to get things accomplished?
Before Charlotte radical left-wing zealots took their illegal act, did they care how their goofiness would impact ANYONE? Before Charlotte zealots over-stepped their authority, was people using bathrooms an issue? Before Charlotte gay-activists started down the wrong path, did they consider how their act would NEGATIVELY affect private businesses?
So, it seems from this editorial that left-wing zealots are writing editorials. But this is not new. Left-wing radical gay-activists have been running media outlets for years. They've just gotten more bold, and less concerned about their bias showing.
Before Charlotte's illegal act, no one knew if a cross-dresser or transgender or any other confused person was using the wrong restroom or shower. It wasn't until Charlotte zealots chose to do the wrong thing, and to be redundant the left-wing thing, that ANYONE cared who was using which facility. It wasn't until a man went into a ladies shower room with perverted acts in mind that anyone cared or took action. It wasn't until a woman chose to step into a man's public bathroom, for whatever reason a woman would do this, that anyone got police involved. After Charlotte did the dumb thing, anyone could use any facility and NO ONE could do anything about it. Your daughter could be in the gym shower and be invaded by the football quarterback and NO ONE could do anything. And Charlotte is doubling down on their stoopidity by now claiming gender is IRRELEVANT when extra-curricular activities are picked by 'students'. So your daughter could very well end up in the shower with a guy! Does that make you feel comfortable? If so, you are as stoopid and thoughtless as the Charlotte zealot radicals!
'HB2 is having a direct, negative economic impact on the state'. Yup. Seems to be true. And if the latest round of emails from Demoncrats have any validity, like the rest of them have from demons, it's obvious that demons and Roy were directly involved with promoting economic damage to the state. Demons working AGAINST the state for POLITICAL GAIN! Who would have ever thought any demon would stoop to this level!? Of course, thinking people KNOW that demons are called 'demons' because self-preservation and self-advancement are at the top of their list, state or nation be damned! 'At this point what difference does it make?' Doesn't matter if the law is broken, so long as demons or the demon party are advanced. No disaster should ever be left unused by demons. It is their way; it is their mantra; it is the driving force behind their party.
Demons. Remember, without them, life would be so much smoother, government so much smaller and more efficient, and our lives would be less pressured. Gotta love liberal, activist, zealot, big-government, central planner libs!
