Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organisation, and Equality NC, the state organisation working to secure equal rights and justice for LGBT North Carolinians, announced that executives from the American Express Company, AXA Financial Inc., Bloomberg L.P. ,Capital One, Classical American Homes Preservation Trust, Campbell Soup Company, CohnReznick LLP, CrowdRise, eMaint Enterprises, LLC, Ernst & Young LLP, the Estée Lauder Companies, Inc., John Hancock Financial, Kohler Co., Logitech, Plum Organics, RBC Capital Markets, REI, Strava Inc., The Hartford, Time Warner Cable, United Airlines, Visa Inc. and Williams-Sonoma, Inc. have signed onto an open letter that now includes more than 160 leading CEOs and business leaders urging Governor Pat McCrory and the North Carolina General Assembly to repeal the radical provisions in the deeply discriminatory law that was rammed through the legislature on March 23rd. These companies are continuing their support after Governor McCrory announced an executive order that does nothing to fix the discriminatory provisions signed into law through HB 2.
Yesterday, HRC released a new video fact-checking Gov Mccrory’s dangerous rhetoric on HB 2.
While the governor’s executive order extends protections to state workers, it does nothing to fix the vile and discriminatory provisions he signed into law through HB 2. Under HB 2, transgender people are prohibited from using restrooms consistent with their gender identity in public buildings, including the University of North Carolina campus and the Raleigh-Durham Airport. Cities still cannot adopt ordinances to prohibit discrimination against their residents and visitors. And HB 2 still prevents individuals from bringing discrimination suit in state courts.
HRC is invoking the North Carolina Public Records Law to gain access to any communications the Governor, the Executive Branch, or the General Assembly had among each other or with the kind of extreme anti-LGBT special interest groups who often craft and push this language. Specifically, the organizations are demanding that the government release any communications legislators or the Governor or his staff have had with the North Carolina Values Coalition or the Alliance Defending Freedom from the office of Gov. Pat McCrory, Senate leader Phil Berger and Speaker Tim Moore about HB 2. View the letters to the office of Gov. McCrory, Senator Berger and Speaker Moore here.
The copy of the updated letter, which was first made public on Tuesday, March 29th, can be found here and below.
“Governor McCrory’s executive order does nothing more than highlight the actual problems caused by HB 2,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “These businesses understand that discrimination is bad for North Carolina, and will continue to speak out until Governor McCrory and the General Assembly repeal this heinous attack on basic human dignity.”
“North Carolina’s place as a business leader in the South is based on fairness, inclusion, and diversity,” said Equality NC Executive Director Chris Sgro with the original launch of the open letter. “HB 2 does not represent North Carolina values, and it weakens our competitive edge. We are glad to see our business community in the Old North State standing up against discriminatory measures like this. Governor McCrory made a mess of our state last [month], and our businesses are leading the charge to repair our state to a place of fairness.”
Gov. Pat McCrory and state lawmakers are under increasingly intense pressure to repeal the discriminatory law in the upcoming legislative session. Mayors and governors across the country are banning travel to the state, and the New York Times editorial board called North Carolina a “pioneer in bigotry.” Major film studios and corporations, including PayPal and Deutsche Bank, have stopped investments in the state because of the new law. Last week, Bruce Springsteen cancelled a concert in Greensboro to stand in solidarity with LGBT people across North Carolina and the nation.
HB 2 has eliminated existing municipal non-discrimination protections for LGBT people and prevents such protections from being passed by cities in the future. The legislation also forces transgender students in public schools to use restrooms and other facilities inconsistent with their gender identity, putting 4.5 billion dollars in federal funding under Title IX at risk. It also compels the same type of discrimination against transgender people to take place in state buildings, including in public universities. Lawmakers passed the legislation in a hurried, single-day session last month, and Governor McCrory quickly signed it into law in the dead of night.
North Carolina has the unfortunate distinction of becoming the first state in the country to enact a law attacking transgender students, even after similar proposals were rejected across the country this year — including a high-profile veto by the Republican Governor Dennis Daugaard of South Dakota. North Carolina school districts that comply with the law will now be in direct violation of Title IX, subjecting the school districts to massive liability and putting an estimated $4.5 billion of federal funding from the U.S. Department of Education, as well as funding received by schools from other federal agencies, at risk. This section of HB 2 offers costly supposed solutions to non-existent problems, and it forces schools to choose between complying with federal law — plus doing the right thing for their students — or complying with a state law that violates students’ civil rights. Read more about how this bill puts federal funding at risk here.
The full letter to Governor McCrory and list of signatories is below:
Dear Governor McCrory,
We write with concerns about legislation you signed into law last week, HB 2, which has overturned protections for LGBT people and sanctioned discrimination across North Carolina. Put simply, HB 2 is not a bill that reflects the values of our companies, of our country, or even the overwhelming majority of North Carolinians.
We are disappointed in your decision to sign this discriminatory legislation into law. The business community, by and large, has consistently communicated to lawmakers at every level that such laws are bad for our employees and bad for business. This is not a direction in which states move when they are seeking to provide successful, thriving hubs for business and economic development. We believe that HB 2 will make it far more challenging for businesses across the state to recruit and retain the nation’s best and brightest workers and attract the most talented students from across the nation. It will also diminish the state’s draw as a destination for tourism, new businesses, and economic activity.
Discrimination is wrong and we believe it has no place in North Carolina or anywhere in our country. As companies that pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming to all, we strongly urge you and the leadership of North Carolina’s legislature to repeal this law in the upcoming legislative session.
Sincerely,
Laura Alber, President and Chief Executive Officer, Williams-Sonoma, Inc.
Karen Appleton, Senior Vice President, Box
James Avery, CEO, Adzerk
Brandee Barker, Cofounder, The Pramana Collective
Marc Benioff, CEO, Salesforce
Chip Bergh, President and CEO, Levi Strauss & Co.
Michael Birch, Founder, Blab
Ed Black, President and CEO, Computer & Communications Industry Association
Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Goldman Sachs Group
Nathan Blecharczyk, Cofounder and CTO, Airbnb
Steven R. Boal, CEO, Quotient Technology Inc.
Alex Boden, General Manager, Plum Organics
Ron Boire, CEO, Barnes and Noble
Lorna Borenstein, CEO, Grokker
Brad Brinegar, Chairman and CEO, McKinney
Michael Bronner, President, Dr. Bronner’s
Craig Bromley, President, John Hancock Financial
John Bryant, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Kellogg Company
Wes Bush, Chairman, CEO and President of Northrop Grumman
Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, co-CEOs, Atlassian
Lloyd Carney, CEO, Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
Marc Casper, President and CEO, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.
Safra Catz, CEO, Oracle
Brian Chesky, CEO, Airbnb
Emanuel Chirico, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PVH Corp.
Ron Conway, Founder and Co-Managing Partner, SV Angel
Tim Cook, CEO, Apple
Roger W. Crandall, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance
Paul T. Dacier, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, EMC Corporation
Bracken P. Darrell, CEO, Logitech
Dean Debnam, Chairman and CEO, Workplace Options
Mike DeFrino, Chief Executive Officer, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants
Bill Demchak, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.
Alex Dimitrief, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, GE
Jack Dorsey, CEO, Square and Twitter
Sandy Douglas, Executive Vice President & President, Coca-Cola North America, The Coca-Cola Company
David Ebersman, Cofounder and CEO, Lyra Health
Randy Fiser, CEO, American Society of Interior Designers
Blair Fleming, Head, RBC Capital Markets, U.S.
Jared Fliesler, General Partner, Matrix Partners
Vince Forlenza, Chairman, CEO and President, BD
Mark Gainey, CEO, Strava Inc.
Joe Gebbia, Cofounder and Chief Product Officer, Airbnb
Jason Goldberg, CEO, Pepo
Kristen Koh Goldstein, CEO, BackOps
Mitchell Gold, co-founder and chair-man, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams
John H. Graham IV, President and CEO, American Society of Association Executives
Peter T. Grauer, Chairman, Bloomberg L.P.
Logan Green, CEO, Lyft
Mike Gregoire, CEO, CA Technologies
Paul Graham, Founder, Y Combinator
David Hassell, CEO, 15Five
Charles H. Hill III, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Human Resources, Pfizer Inc.
Reid Hoffman, Chairman, LinkedIn
Robert Hohman, Cofounder & CEO, Glassdoor
Lane S. Hopkins, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Capital One Financial Corporation
Mark Hoplamazian, President and CEO, Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Drew Houston, CEO, Dropbox
Stephen R. Howe, Jr., U.S. Chairman and Managing Partner, Americas Managing Partner, Ernst & Young LLP
William H. Howle, President of U.S. Retail Banking Group, Citibank
Steve Huffman, CEO, Reddit
Chad Hurley, Cofounder, YouTube
Dave Imre, Partner and CEO, IMRE
Dev Ittycheria, President & CEO, MongoDB
Richard Jenrette, Founder, Classical American Homes Preservation Trust
Laurene Powell Jobs, President, Emerson Collective
Michael O. Johnson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Herbalife
Cecily Joseph, VP Corporate Responsibility and Chief Diversity Officer, Symantec Corporation
Steve Joyce, CEO, Choice Hotels International
Travis Kalanick, CEO, Uber
David Karp, Founder and CEO, Tumblr
Travis Katz, Founder and CEO, Gogobot
Alan King, President and COO, Workplace Options
Dave King, CEO, LabCorp.
David Kohler, President & CEO, Kohler Co.
Brian Krzanich, CEO, Intel
Joshua Kushner, Managing Partner, Thrive Capital
Michael W. Lamach, Chairman and CEO, Ingersoll-Rand plc
William P. Lauder, Executive Chairman, The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.
Jeff Lawson, Founder, CEO and Chairman, Twilio
Max Levchin, CEO, Affirm
Dion Lim, CEO, NextLesson
Frank Longobardi, CEO, CohnReznick LLP
Shan-lyn Ma, CEO, Zola
Elie Maalouf, Chief Executive Officer, The Americas, InterContinental Hotels Group
Vishal Makhijani, COO, Udacity
Tom Mangas, CEO, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Rob Marcus, Chairman and CEO of Time Warner Cable
Bill Maris, CEO, Google Ventures
Marissa Mayer, President and CEO, Yahoo
Melody McCloskey, CEO, StyleSeat
Douglas Merrill, CEO, Zestfinance
Dyke Messinger, President and CEO, Power Curbers Inc.
Chris Meyrick, Chief Diversity Officer, American Express Company
Steve Mollenkopf, CEO, Qualcomm Inc.
Bob Moritz, US Chairman and Senior Partner, PwC
Denise Morrison, President and Chief Executive Officer, Campbell Soup Company
Brian Moynihan, CEO, Bank of America
Oscar Munoz, President and CEO, United Airlines
Hari Nair, Vice President and General Manager, Orbitz.com & CheapTickets.com
Christopher J. Nassetta, President & Chief Executive Officer, Hilton Worldwide
Michael Natenshon, CEO, Marine Layer
Alexi G. Nazem, Cofounder and CEO, Nomad Health
Alexis Ohanian, Cofounder, Reddit
Laurie J. Olson, EVP, Strategy, Portfolio and Commercial Operations, Pfizer Inc.
Bob Page, Founder and CEO, Replacements, Ltd.
Doug Parker, Chairman and CEO, American Airlines
Mark Pearson, CEO, AXA Financial Inc.
Mike Pedersen, CEO and President, TD Bank, N.A.
Michelle Peluso, Strategic Advisor and former CEO, Gilt
Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google
Mark Pincus, Founder and Executive Chairman, Zynga
Hosain Rahman, CEO, Jawbone
Bill Ready, CEO, Braintree
Evan Reece, CEO, Liftopia
Stan Reiss, General Partner, Matrix Partners
John Replogle, CEO, Seventh Generation
Walter Robb, co-CEO, Whole Foods Market
Chuck Robbins, CEO, Cisco Systems
Virginia M. Rometty, Chairman, President and CEO, IBM Corporation
Dan Rosensweig, CEO, Chegg
Kevin P. Ryan, Founder and Chairman, Alleycorp
Bijan Sabet, General Partner, Spark Capital
Brian Samelson, CEO & President, eMaint Enterprises, LLC
Julie Samuels, President, Engine
George A. Scangos, PhD, CEO, Biogen
Charles W. Scharf, Chief Executive Officer, Visa Inc.
Paula Schneider, CEO, American Apparel
Steve Schoch, CEO, Miramax
Dan Schulman, President and CEO, PayPal
Howard Schultz, Chairman and CEO, Starbucks
Adam Shankman, Director and Producer
Gary Shapiro, President and CEO, Consumer Technology Association
David A. Shaywitz, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer, DNAnexus
Behshad Sheldon, President and CEO, Braeburn Pharmaceuticals
Ben Silbermann, CEO, Pinterest
Brad Smith, President and Chief Legal Officer, Microsoft
Arne Sorenson, President and CEO, Marriott International
David Spector, Cofounder, ThirdLove
Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO, Yelp
Jerry Stritzke, President and CEO, REI
John G. Stumpf, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Wells Fargo & Company
Julie Sweet, Group Chief Executive North America, Accenture
Christopher J. Swift, Chairman and CEO, The Hartford
Bret Taylor, CEO, Quip
Todd Thibodeaux, CEO, CompTIA
Brian Tippens, Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
David Tisch, Managing Partner, BoxGroup
Nirav Tolia, Cofounder and CEO, Nextdoor
Kevin A. Trapani, President and CEO, The Redwood Groups
Mark Trudeau, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals
Paul Van Deventer, President & CEO, Meeting Professionals International
Ken Wasch, President, Software & Information Industry Association
Casey Wasserman, Chairman and CEO of Wasserman & President and CEO of the Wasserman Foundation
Bob & Harvey Weinstein, Co-Founders and Co-Chairmen, The Weinstein Company
Devin Wenig, CEO, eBay
Tim Westergren, Founder and CEO, Pandora Media, Inc.
Robert Wolfe, CEO, CrowdRise
Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO, Facebook
Photo By John P Salvatore [CC0 or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
