MARCH 28, 2016
Photo: The New York Times
If you needed any further proof, the events of the past week demonstrated that the fight for secured equal rights for LGBT people is far from over.
First the good news:
On Monday morning, Gov. Nathan Deal (R-GA) announced that he intends to veto HB757, a bill overwhelmingly passed by the Georgia state legislature that would have allowed government agencies (such as homeless shelters and adoption agencies) to refuse service to LGBT singles and couples. The bill would also have allowed hospitals to turn away LGBT patients, as well as permitting any business to fire an employee simply for being gay.
Opposition to the bill from the business community was swift and strong from such companies as Apple, Yelp and Coca-Cola, which threatened to leave the state if the anti-LGBT bill became law. Each of Atlanta’s professional sports teams came out loudly against the bill, and the NFL suggested that Atlanta could lose any chance of hosting the Super Bowl unless Gov. Deal vetoed HB757.
The most serious threat was a proposed boycott of the state by the motion picture industry, led by the Walt Disney Company, which filmed several movies there including several lucrative Marvel Studio features, including the upcoming “Captain America: Civil War” and “Guardians of the Galaxy 2.” Losing the enormous income that movie production has brought to Georgia’s economy would be a major blow not only to the state but also to Deal’s legacy, as much of his reputation wrests on his successful offerings of tax incentives to lure filmmaking to Georgia.
Gov. Deal’s veto will not be without political ramifications. Though he is termed out and will not have to face the voters again, he has several years left on his term and a number of special projects for which he will need the support of his GOP colleagues, who are furious at him for vetoing this bill, which the Republicans fought hard to pass. And there’s always a possibility that the Assembly may gather enough votes to override Deal’s veto entirely.
Still whether it was for economic reasons or personal ones, it’s heartening to see a Republican governor step up and do the right thing.
If only the governor of North Carolina showed the same courage.
Last Wednesday morning, out of nowhere, the Republican-controlled General Assembly of North Carolina introduced a bill that would prohibit any city from establishing a law that would protect its LGBT citizens from discrimination. Both houses of the Assembly passed it within hours, and by the end of the day, the bill was on the desk of Republican Governor Pat McCrory, who quickly signed it into law. Within a day, the rights of North Carolina’s LGBT community were swiftly taken away.
What prompted this stealth anti-gay law was the passage of an ordinance in Charlotte that would allow transgender individuals to use the rest room that corresponds to their gender identity, rather than their gender at birth. Although there’s never been a single recorded case of transgender females wangling their willies in front of schoolgirls, GOP Assembly members apparently felt that this catastrophe will happen any day now, and, by gum, they’re going to stop it.
What is it about Republicans’ obsession with toilets?
The swiftness of the law’s passage left LGBT advocates in North Carolina flatfooted. Unlike in Indiana last year, when LGBT advocates forced GOP Gov. Mike Pence to order changes in a “religious liberty” law, the swiftness of this law’s passage gave LGBT supporters little time to form an organized response and pushback.
Although there is some film and television production in North Carolina, it’s not enough to have the same effective boycott leverage that worked in Georgia. But like Georgia, members of the business community in North Carolina, such as PayPal, Dow Chemical, and American Airlines have taken stands critical of the new law, though none has yet threatened to pull their business out of the state. It may be up to the N.C.A.A, which is planning several prominent tournament events in North Carolina in 2017 and 2018, to start the boycott ball rolling, and they have announced that they will be keeping a very close eye on North Carolina regarding diversity.
There’s a big job ahead facing LGBT advocates in North Carolina. This isn’t as comparatively easy as stopping a bill with the stroke of a pen, as in Georgia. North Carolina’s LGBT community now has to undo a legislated law, which is a lot more difficult. Just at a moment when we think equality seems like a done deal, something like this week serves as an important reminder.
It’s not over.
