RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Any actions toward repealing a North Carolina law that limits non-discrimination protections for LGBT people must be preceded by the city of Charlotte’s repeal of a pro-LGBT ordinance, Gov. Pat McCrory’s office said Friday.
The law known as House Bill 2 has had financial repercussions on the state, as criticism that the law is discriminatory has led to the cancelations of concerts, events and conventions that were to be hosted in North Carolina. House Bill 2 was approved in March by the state’s Republican-led legislature and signed by McCrory just weeks after the Charlotte City Council expanded public accommodation protections to cover sexual orientation and gender identity.
The law superseded Charlotte’s ordinance and prohibited other North Carolina cities from passing similar rules. It also directed people to use bathrooms in schools and government buildings corresponding to their birth certificate.
National criticism from gay-rights groups, corporate CEOs and politicians led to the cancellations of events and lawsuits to overturn the law. The NBA pulled its 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte.
Financial ramifications of the law grew this week when the NCAA and Atlantic Coast Conference removed championship events from the state this academic year.
McCrory spokesman Josh Ellis said in a statement that the governor would call a special session if two requisites are met: Charlotte must move first to repeal its expanded protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people; and secondly, a majority of lawmakers must be in favor of repeal.
“If the Charlotte City Council totally repeals the ordinance and then we can confirm there is support to repeal among the majority of state lawmakers in the House and Senate, the governor will call a special session,” Ellis said.
The General Assembly isn’t scheduled to reconvene until January. Last spring, legislative leaders said the Charlotte ordinance needed to be gone before any significant modifications would be considered to the state law. The Charlotte City Council declined to do so at the time.
The next city council meeting is Monday. Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts, who backed the ordinance, was evaluating the situation, spokesman Gregg Watkins said Friday night.
In a statement, Human Rights Campaign executive JoDee Winterhof called the proposed exchange the “same cheap trick the North Carolina General Assembly has attempted all along”. If the cost of repealing House Bill 2 is getting rid of the Charlotte ordinance, the effect would be dropped protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people that companies and organizations say are needed.
The NCAA and ACC withdrawal from events in North Carolina this week prompted a handful of Republican lawmakers who voted for the law to reverse course this week and call for a full or partial repeal.
McCrory, a Republican, has been the law’s biggest defender. He’s pointed out how other states have also gone to court to reject a separate Obama administrative directive that schools must allow transgender students to use the restroom aligned with their gender identity.
House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, didn’t respond to a text Friday night seeking comment. The office of Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, didn’t respond to an email. He had been traveling this week.
On Thursday, House Majority Leader John Bell, R-Wayne, said there was no broad appetite among his Republican colleagues for a special session. In an interview, however, Bell said the conflict falls back on Charlotte because it “is the one that pushed this agenda.”
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Nothing seems more statesman-like than ceding your authority to opponents.
Well there is their out, even if Charlotte repealed their law the simple and guaranteed answer will be that there is not majority support for repeal in both the House and Senate. Does not even come close to the usual smell test of ‘if you do this, we will do that’.
So another example of “take back our country” or “make America great again” by going back to the good old days and ways whereby discrimination is okay. We’ll drop our law if you drop your silly protection of these misfits of society is what they are saying. I hope they bleed to death (in a business sense) unless this law is overturned completely. Go Blue North Carolina, and I don’t mean State or Duke, I mean Dems.
If the State law supersedes Charlotte’s ordinance, there’s no need for Charlotte to repeal the ordinance. He thinks N. Carolinians are stupid and can’t see through his bullshit. Just change the discriminatory law you helped pass. It will then be in sync with what Charlotte’s ordinance already stipulates and allows. It’s not that complicated…
That’s the most bullshit excuse I’ve ever heard…
For Charlotte to repeal an ordinance so the state can create an over-arching law to encompass the whole state that says the essentially same thing, is ridiculous pretzel logic on its face.
Oh, and he concedes he won’t try to tackle the issue until after January. After you fail to get re-elected, huh? Or wishing against hope that you will…How fucking convenient for you. Trying to bet the odds against losing your election bid, are you McCrory? Don’t count on it.
Back in August 58% of N. Carolinians found HB2 very unpopular and hurting the state…and that was before all the new cancellations. People don’t want this law in the state. McCrory’s own approval ratings aren’t all that great either.
This law, HB2 is an example of the shock doctrine. They used the transgender portion of the law to conceal the other pars of the law they did not want people to see. The state also included a portion of the law that restricts cities from implementing a different minimum wage standard. Only the state capital can set one single minimum wage. Additionally, there is a third part of the law that restricts peoples ability to sue for discrimination. If you are a veteran and are discriminated there is nothing you can do. This extends to all kinds of discrimination for everyone. It is tort reform under the guise of a bathroom bill.