Deja Vu: Pat McCrory Echoes Disastrous Pence-style Defence of Anti-LGBT Laws on Meet the Press

Pat McCrory says he will not repeal HB 2’s attack on transgender equality.

Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organisation, released the following statement on North Carolina after Gov. Pat McCrory said he wouldn’t support a statewide non-discrimination law for the LGBT community and will not repeal HB 2, which removes the ability of people facing discrimination on any basis, including on the basis of race, religion, sex, and national origin, to sue in state court; prevents local cities from enacting their own non-discrimination protections; and forces transgender North Carolinians to use restroom facilities in schools and on publicly-owned property inconsistent with their gender identity. HB 2 is opposed by more than 160 major business leaders.

“Today, a nation watched as Gov. McCrory invoked an outdated and retrograde argument to defend his decision to write discrimination into state law and deny equal treatment under the law for LGBT people,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “Pat McCrory can’t have it both ways and say he doesn’t want the government to tell the private sector what to do while he also sticks his head in the sand and ignores more than 160 businesses who have clearly said they want HB 2 repealed.”

In the interview today, even as Chuck Todd said NBC estimated the law has already cost the state millions, Pat McCrory said he would not repeal HB 2, nor would he support a statewide non-discrimination law protecting LGBT people from employment discrimination because he didn’t know of any discrimination occurring against LGBT people.

Watch HRC’s “True or False” video, which debunks the worst of McCrory’s smears, such as saying transgender equality is somehow new, even though non-discrimination protections have been on the books for decades. On the show, panelist Kathleen Parker called McCrory’s defence “bogus” and Perry Bacon said McCrory made a “mistake” in signing it. Hugh Hewitt said anti-LGBT laws are “not the terrain” the party wants to fight on heading into November.

HRC’s national survey of the LGBT community found that an enormous percentage of LGBT Americans have experienced discrimination. 63 percent reported experiencing discrimination in their personal lives. Meanwhile, the National Center for Transgender Equality and the LGBTQ Task Force reported that in a survey of North Carolina, half of their respondents had been harassed or discriminated against in public places like hotels, restaurants and other public services.

A new poll from North Carolina’s WRAL this week found only 38 percent support HB 2 while 50 percent oppose it. 61 percent say HB 2 has hurt the state’s image nationally and 61 percent also say the law has hurt the state’s ability to attract and retain business. A 64 percent majority of North Carolinians support LGBT nondiscrimination protections.

On Friday, HRC announced that the number of major corporation leaders have signed an open letter urging Gov. McCrory to repeal HB 2 has grown to 160. PayPal and Deutsche Bank, have stopped investments in North Carolina because of HB 2 and last week Bruce Springsteen cancelled a concert in Greensboro to stand in solidarity with LGBT people across North Carolina and the nation. The NBA indicated in a statement Friday it is open to moving the 2017 All-Star game if HB 2 is not repealed.

Photo By Hal Goodtree from Cary, North Carolina, USA (Pat McCrory) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons