TRANSGENDER BATHROOM LAWS NOT TRUMP'S PRIORITY (CHARLOTTE, NC)

TRANSGENDER BATHROOM LAWS NOT TRUMP'S PRIORITY FOR AMERICA (CHARLOTTE):

NOR IS TRUMP TRYING TO TURN ALL BLACK MEN GAY.


Sources: ABC News, The Economist, Charlotte Observer, YouTube


**** The Trump administration reverses guidelines on transgender bathrooms


But presidents cannot change the law and it is up to courts to enforce it

ON February 22nd, the Trump administration announced it would withdraw its predecessor’s guidelines regarding the accommodation of transgender students in America’s government-funded schools.

Sean Spicer, Donald Trump’s press secretary, said that the president had “made it clear throughout the campaign that he’s a firm believer in states’ rights”. Issues like transgender bathroom access, he added, “are not best dealt with at the federal level".

The move has disheartened liberals and cheered conservatives, but its impact is likely to be more limited than either side expects.

Nine months ago, officials from the education and justice departments officials sent a letter and 25-page instructional pamphlet to school districts across the country.

The message was simple:

America’s schools should permit transgender students to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity.

In the face of new laws in North Carolina and other states imposing a biological test on bathroom access, the Obama administration noted that “the desire to accommodate others’ discomfort cannot justify a policy that singles out and disadvantages a particular class of students.”

This principle, it added, is “consistently recognised in civil rights cases”.

Thirteen states immediately challenged the letter in court. Days before the school year began last autumn, a federal district judge issued a nationwide injunction barring its enforcement.

The Obama administration, Reed O’Connor ruled, had not followed appropriate procedures before offering its interpretation of Title VII and Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and how those provisions bear on the protections due to transgender students.

Mr O'Connor confirmed in October 2016 that his order against Mr Obama’s transgender policy applied not just in the 13 states that brought the challenge but to every school district in the country.

Later that month, the Supreme Court agreed to consider the case of Gavin Grimm, a transgender boy now in his final semester at a Virginia high school that will not permit him to use the boy’s bathroom. Mr Grimm’s complaint is set for argument at the court on March 28th.

Civil-rights groups and left-leaning politicians reacted with dismay to Mr Trump’s change of policy.

A representative from the American Civil Liberties Union said the move “shows that the president’s promise to protect LGBT rights was just empty rhetoric”.

Maura Healey, the attorney-general for Massachusetts, wrote that Mr Trump “is sending a message that discrimination is acceptable”. Dick Durbin, a Democratic senator from Illinois, called it “a major setback in the fight for civil rights”. Conservatives, meanwhile, are cheering the about-face.

Gary McCaleb, a lawyer at the right-wing Alliance Defending Freedom, said, “No longer will federal officials distort federal law that is meant to equalise educational opportunities for women, and no longer will they force local officials to intermingle boys and girls within private areas like locker rooms, showers, hotel rooms on school trips, and restrooms".

Two considerations should temper reactions on both sides. First, Mr Trump’s change of policy is not a wholesale reversal of Mr Obama’s stance on trans rights; it is, instead, a withdrawal pending further consideration.

The “Dear colleague” letter issued on February 23rd criticises the May 2016 missive, along with another guidance letter from January 2015, in brief and general terms: “These guidance documents do not...contain extensive legal analysis or explain how the position is consistent with the express language of Title IX”.

It then briefly recounts the litigation battle over bathrooms, noting the legal dispute over whether discrimination against transgender people amounts to “sex” discrimination. But Mr Trump’s letter does not itself stake out a definitive claim:

The government “has decided to withdraw and rescind” Mr Obama’s guidance, it reads, “in order to further and more completely consider the legal issues involved”.

And the letter closes by affirming that protections are still in place against “discrimination, bullying and harassment” and that “all students, including LGBT students” deserve to attend schools where they “are able to learn and thrive in a safe environment”.

This rather conciliatory closing, along with the lack of a full-throated condemnation of Mr Obama’s position, may owe something to squabbling inside the White House over the move: it appears that Betsy DeVos, the new Education secretary, opposed the change but bowed to the demands of Jeff Sessions, the attorney-general, after Mr Trump intervened.

So Mr Trump’s change of policy is quite a bit softer, both in tone and content, than it might have been.

A second factor mitigates the significance of the change still further: whatever a president’s spin on civil-rights law may be, the law itself remains the same. “With or without guidance”, the National Women’s Law Centre tweeted yesterday, “Title IX is still the law of the land & schools still have an obligation to protect trans students.” Many states have already adopted transgender-friendly policies in their schools.

States that do not offer adequate accommodations will face lawsuits, and it will be up the courts—not the executive branch—to interpret and enforce the law.

MCCORY TO REPEAL HB2 AFTER CHARLOTTE LEADERS REPEAL LGBT BATHROOM SHARING ORDINANCE

GOV MCCORY TO REPEAL HB2 AFTER CHARLOTTE LEADERS REPEAL LGBT BATHROOM SHARING ORDINANCE:

CHARLOTTE'S MAYOR JENNIFER ROBERTS WANTED TO HELP HILLARY BUT IT BACKFIRED.

CHARLOTTE'S POLITICALLY-MOTIVATED LGBT BATHROOM ORDINANCE WAS ONLY FORCED ON PRIVATE BUSINESSES & PRIVATE SCHOOLS NOT PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

THUS THE REASON WHY GOV MCCRORY SIGNED HB2 INTO LAW IN THE FIRST PLACE.

CHARLOTTE'S BATHROOM SHARING ORDINANCE WAS ABOUT 2016 POLITICS NOT DISCRIMINATION.


Sources: CBS News, Charlotte Observer, YouTube


****** Gov. Pat McCrory calls for special legislative session Wednesday to repeal HB2


Following a surprise move by Charlotte City Council on Monday, Republican Gov. Pat McCrory has called for a special session Wednesday to consider repeal of House Bill 2.

The governor’s statement came in a series of rapidly unfolding events that could signal an end to the nine-month drama that has catapulted North Carolina into national headlines. HB2, seen by critics as an anti-LGBT measure, prompted boycotts and cost the state millions of dollars as well as lost jobs.

Monday’s events also underscored the continuing tensions between Republican lawmakers and Democratic Gov.-elect Roy Cooper.

McCrory’s call came hours after Charlotte City Council voted 10-0, with the support of Cooper and Democratic Mayor Jennifer Roberts, to rescind the LGBT ordinance that prompted HB2.

“This sudden reversal, with little notice after the gubernatorial election has ended, sadly proves this entire issue, originated by the political left, was all about politics at the expense of Charlotte and the entire state of North Carolina,” McCrory said in a video statement.

Cooper, who lobbied for the council action, announced earlier that GOP legislative leaders had promised to repeal HB2.

“Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore assured me that as a result of Charlotte’s vote, a special session will be called for Tuesday to repeal HB2 in full,” Cooper said in a statement. “I hope they will keep their word to me and with the help of Democrats in the legislature, HB2 will be repealed in full.”

In a joint statement of their own, Berger and Moore said politics was behind the council vote.

“Today Roy Cooper and Jennifer Roberts proved what we said was the case all along: their efforts to force men into women’s bathrooms and shower facilities was a political stunt to drive out-of-state money into the governor’s race,” the Republican leaders said. “For months, we’ve said if Charlotte would repeal its bathroom ordinance that created the problem, we would take up the repeal of HB2.”.



This is the third time such an offer has been floated.

First in May and then in September there were efforts to get the council to rescind the ordinance that extended anti-discrimination protection to the LGBT community and allowed transgender people to use the public bathroom of the gender with which they identify.

Most council members never went along with the deal.

Since then Cooper defeated McCrory in a hard-fought race that wasn’t settled until McCrory conceded Dec. 5 as a recount entered its final hours.



Late-night lobbying

Council’s Monday morning vote came after late-night lobbying by Cooper himself. He called Democratic Mayor Pro Tem Vi Lyles at 10 p.m. Sunday and Democrat Julie Eiselt a half-hour later.

He said “if we cleaned up our books, that the General Assembly was motivated to call a special session to repeal (the law), and we felt this was our best opportunity,” Eiselt told the Observer.

Cooper and others believe that the best chance to repeal HB2 is this month before new legislators take office in January.

Roberts and council members had considered a similar deal earlier in the year but had rejected it.

Roberts on Monday was in the difficult position of defending the repeal. The vote “should in no way be viewed as a compromise of our principles or commitment to nondiscrimination,” she said.

But earlier this year, and as recently as last week, the mayor said that LGBT rights weren’t negotiable. Local and national gay rights organizations had adamantly opposed a symbolic repeal vote. The Human Rights Campaign said earlier this month that there should be no compromise between the city and the state.

But Monday they applauded the city’s move.

“HB2 is precisely why North Carolinians went to the polls and ousted Gov. McCrory last month,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “It’s time for state lawmakers to repeal HB2 and begin repairing the harm this bill has done to people and the damage it has done to North Carolina’s reputation and economy.”

State Rep. Chris Sgro, a Guilford County Democrat who is president of Equality NC, said earlier this month that he opposed any compromise.

“I firmly believe that Roy Cooper, Jennifer Roberts and the majority of City Council are committed to winning the full complement (of rights) for LGBT people both in Charlotte and across the state,” he said Monday. “All eyes …are on Raleigh watching for the General Assembly to do the right thing.”

Republican council member Kenny Smith, who is considering running for mayor, said the Democratic-controlled council was “playing politics” with the decision. He said the same deal has been available for months, but that council members waited until McCrory lost the election.

State GOP Chairman Robin Hayes agreed. He said the Charlotte ordinance was “never more than a nakedly partisan political weapon aimed at sabotaging Gov. McCrory’s re-election bid, while inflicting economic suffering on the people of North Carolina.”

It’s unclear how a vote to repeal HB2 would go. Democratic votes are virtually assured. Many Republicans remain in support of the bill.

“Lawmakers shouldn’t now betray those who supported them and compromise common sense principles, like privacy, dignity, and freedom for all citizens,” Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the N.C. Values Coalition, said. “To do so would be to advance the Obama administration’s agenda, not freedom and common sense.”

A ‘reset’

The city’s repeal includes language that says its nondiscrimination ordinance will be revived if the General Assembly doesn’t repeal HB2 by Dec. 31.

Republican council member Ed Driggs said he’s worried legislators will see that deadline as Charlotte dictating to Raleigh. He proposed that the Dec. 31 deadline be removed, but his motion failed.

Some business leaders were surprised but happy at the news. Maxwell Hanks, a broker with Spectrum Properties leasing the new 300 South Tryon office building, said HB2 has been hurting business recruitment in the state

“Rescinding HB2 will be a great way to close out 2016 and start 2017,” said Hanks. He said the move would be a “reset,” and that it would help him and other brokers lure companies to move to the state.

There was no advance notice that the ordinance would be discussed at the City Council meeting. The city charter allows the manager or mayor to place any item on the agenda – even without public notice first. Democrat James Mitchell made the motion to vote on the matter and Smith seconded.

Roberts said voters’ feelings about the issue have been known and voiced. But when the issue was last discussed, many in the LGBT community urged the city not to repeal the ordinance.

“The community always has a chance to weigh in,” Roberts said. “There will be much more conversations about equality.”

Lyles said council members would try in 2017 to pass some LGBT protections, though it’s unclear what they would be.

It’s possible the state might allow Charlotte to pass legal protections for gay and lesbian individuals in places of public accommodation, but any new ordinance that allowed transgender people to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity would likely be rejected again by legislators.

Some Democratic council members have long said they don’t want to “leave the transgender community behind.” But if there are future protections, the city will likely be forced to do just that.

Democratic council member John Autry said Monday’s vote turned his stomach. But he said he decided to support the compromise after talking with one of his daughters, who is gay.

He said she told him that the city’s vote was the best thing to do “in the long run.”

Democratic council member Patsy Kinsey didn’t attend the meeting.

A special session on Wednesday would come five days after lawmakers completed another special session in which they passed measures taking away many of the new governor’s appointment powers.

By itself, Charlotte’s move will not have any immediate impact on the status of lawsuits against HB2 by the federal government and the American Civil Liberties Union, among other groups.

UNC law professor Maxine Eichner, an expert in LGBT matters, said if the General Assembly follows through with the removal of HB2, the opposing sides in the court fights could both ask that the cases be dropped. Or the courts could rule that the lawsuits are now moot.

MCCRORY vs LORETTA LYNCH: MCRORY MAY LOSE

MCCRORY vs LORETTA LYNCH: MCRORY MAY LOSE

WHITE MAN vs BLACK WOMAN FOR 2016 POLITICS.

MCRORY STOOD UP AGAINST POLITICAL INTIMIDATION BUT HE MAY HAVE DONE SO TOO LATE.

Sources: Fox News, CNN, Citizen Wells, Youtube

In February 2016, despite wide voter opposition, Charlotte City Council members passed a Transgender Bathroom Sharing Ordinance which only forced Private Businesses, Private Schools (not Public Schools), Churches and Non-Profit agencies to comply.

The Ordinance was due to become effective April 1st.

In March 2016, North Carolina Gov Pat McCory and the NC General Assembly repealed the Charlotte Ordinance via passage of House Bill 2.

Ironically the man who spearheaded passage of Charlotte's Transgender Bathroom Ordinance is an LGBT Advocate who was Convicted of taking Indecent Liberties with a 15-yr old boy on a field trip.

The mainstream media refuses to report on this fact.

In May 2016, GOP North Carolina Gov Pat McCrory is suing the Federal gov't for its overreach in trying to force every state and commonwealth in America to enact laws which order Private Businesses and Churches to allow Transgender people to use Bathroom facilities of their personal choice.

US DOJ Attorney General Loretta Lynch, a Black Woman from North Carolina, claims that denying Transgender people access to use Bathrooms of their choice is a Civil Rights Violation.

In response to Gov McCrory's lawsuit, Loretta Lynch has now countersued the state of North Carolina.

So here we have a Powerful Black Woman from North Carolina fighting a Powerful White Man from North Carolina over Bathrooms for Transgender people during a critical election year.

Unlike Black people, Transgender were not Biologically born Transgender. Instead their sexual orientation is merely a Lifestyle choice.

Millions of US citizens are unemployed, the US Military is lacking in crucial funding for Training so they can defeat ISIL and America's Borders are porous yet Obama has Politicians fighting and wasting US Taxpayer money over Bathrooms for Transgender people.

God Forbid!

I stand with Gov McCrory on HB2, however this public legal battle may indeed cost him re-election.

Why?

Because McCrory sat quietly for too long and then allowed Obama to intentionally drag him into a Cultural Political war for the sole purpose of destroying Pat McCrory's political career forever and for the 2016 election.

I will continue to Pray diligently for Gov McCrory and for the entire United States of America.

**** North Carolina, U.S., square off over transgender rights

(CNN)The United States and North Carolina tangled over transgender rights on Monday, with the Justice Department filing a civil rights lawsuit over the state's so-called bathroom bill and state officials defiantly filing suits against the federal directive to stop the implementation of the controversial legislation.

Also, a major player in North Carolina -- the state's public university system -- defied the governor and legislature and told the Justice Department on Monday it intends to act "in compliance with federal law" as it relates to House Bill 2, known as HB2.

The Justice Department seeks declaratory relief and threatens to curtail federal funding to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the University of North Carolina.

With hundreds of millions of dollars in funding at stake, UNC System President Margaret Spellings said longstanding policy prohibits university personnel from discriminating on the basis of, among other things, gender identity, sex, or sexual orientation.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch, announcing the U.S. legal action to reporters on Monday, cast the bathroom bill issue as the latest civil rights struggle of the era.

"It was not so very long ago that states, including North Carolina, had other signs above restrooms, water fountains, and on public accommodations, keeping people out based on a distinction without a difference. We've moved beyond those dark days," Lynch said.

The act bans people from using public bathrooms that do not correspond with their biological sex. Since its passage in March, North Carolina has become a national battleground on the issue of transgender rights. It has drawn a flurry of condemnation from civil liberties groups, LGBT advocates and major businesses. It has also won praise from groups like the Family Research Council.

After the law's passage, musicians Bruce Springsteen, Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, and the bands Pearl Jam and Boston canceled concerts in the state. Those cancellations have cost one major venue nearly $200,000 in ticket sales.

PayPal and Deutsche Bank have both canceled plans to expand into North Carolina.

The Justice Department said last week that "access to sex-segregated restrooms and other workplace facilities consistent with gender identity is a term, condition or privilege of employment. Denying such access to transgender individuals, whose gender identity is different from their gender assigned at birth, while affording it to similarly situated non-transgender employees, violates Title VII," a section of the Civil Rights Act prohibiting discrimination against workers on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, and religion.

The federal government demanded the state "remedy" the act or risk being in violation of federal law. 

Instead, North Carolina officials filed a lawsuit calling the Justice Department's position a "radical reinterpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act." Top state legislators, Phil Berger and Tim Moore, also filed a complaint against the Justice Department.

But Lynch on Monday said the legislature and governor put the state in "direct opposition to federal laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex and gender identity. More to the point, they created state-sponsored discrimination against transgender individuals who simply seek to engage in the most private of functions in a place of safety and security, a right taken for granted by most of us."

After the federal government asked the state to certify by the end of the day Monday that it would not comply with or implement the bill's restriction on bathroom access, Lynch said the state requested an extension and that had been under "active consideration."

Instead, the governor and the state chose another course: a lawsuit.

"But instead of replying to our offer or providing a certification, this morning, the state of North Carolina and its governor chose to respond by suing the Department of Justice. As a result of their decisions, we are now moving forward," Lynch said.

The federal suit also says the state is in violation of Title IX, the Education Acts Amendment of 1972 that bans gender discrimination in education, and the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act that outlaws discrimination on the basis of sex. 

"This action is about a great deal more than bathrooms," Lynch said. "This is about the dignity and the respect that we accord our fellow citizens and the laws that we as a people and as a country have enacted to protect them."

Lynch said there have been "discriminatory responses to historic moments of progress": the Jim Crow laws that followed the Emancipation Proclamation, the resistance to Brown V. Board of Education, and the "proliferation of state bans on same-sex unions that were intended to stifle any hope that gay and lesbian Americans might one day be afforded the right to marry."

"That right, of course, is now recognized as a guarantee embedded in our Constitution. And in the wake of that historic triumph, we have seen bill after bill in state after state taking aim at the LGBT community," she said. 

She told transgender people that the Obama administration "will do everything we can to protect you going forward."

'Not a protected class'

McCrory's communications director Josh Ellis said after Lynch's remarks that the governor is "appropriately seeking legal certainty to a complex issue impacting employers and students throughout the country" but "in contrast, the attorney general is using divisive rhetoric to advance the Obama administration's strategy of making laws that bypass the constitutional authority of Congress and our courts." 

The act puts in place a statewide policy that bans individuals from using public bathrooms that do not correspond to their biological sex and stops cities from passing anti-discrimination ordinances to protect gay and transgender identity. That power is reserved for the state under the new law. 

North Carolina officials defend the act and said it doesn't violate federal law. The state also said the United States didn't give the state enough time to deal with the matter.

McCrory said Monday that he requested an additional two weeks to respond but was told he would be granted one week, and only if he issued a statement concurring with the Justice Department.

The lawsuit filed by the governor and Public Safety Secretary Frank Perry calls the demand that the state "remedy" the legislation by Monday or risk being in violation of federal law "a baseless and blatant overreach" and said it is making a "radical reinterpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act."

McCrory's argument also said the state of North Carolina hasn't been given enough time to respond and that the federal government is overstepping its authority.

In a Monday news conference, McCrory blamed the city of Charlotte for raising the issue of gender identity and public restrooms. The matter was not on the state's agenda, he said, until the city imposed a mandate that "caused major privacy concerns about males entering female facilities and females entering male facilities."

Because, he said, this is now a national issue -- and could affect every U.S. company with more than 15 employees -- McCrory called on Congress to revisit the anti-discrimination provisions under Titles VII and IX.

"Our nation is one nation, especially when it comes to fighting discrimination, which I wholeheartedly support," McCrory said. 

North Carolina homes in on Title VII in its lawsuit, saying precedence is clear: "Transgender status is not a protected class under Title VII," and it cites a half-dozen cases that it says back its stance. Only Congress can change this, the lawsuit says.

Even if the state felt transgender individuals were afforded federal protection, the Justice Department demands overstep, the state suit says, because the law "allows accommodations based on special circumstances, including but not limited to transgender individuals." 

In a statement announcing the lawsuit, McCrory said the federal government was trying to tell every government agency and company employing more than 15 people "that men should be allowed to use a women's locker room, restroom or shower facility."

He said later that the "new, complex and emotional issue" pitted privacy against equality.

The lawsuit emphasizes that no one is facing discrimination because the law applies equally to everyone.

"All state employees are required to use the bathroom and changing facilities assigned to a person of their same biological sex, regardless of gender identity, or transgender status," it says.

The lawsuit filed by Berger, North Carolina Senate president pro tempore and Moore, state House Speaker, reflected the views of many of the bill's supporters that people "expect to encounter only other people of the same biological sex" when they are in intimate setting such as public bathrooms.

It says the "ideological extremity -- and utter unworkability -- of the department's position on the issues in this case is astonishing." 

NC SUES FEDERAL GOVT BULLIES & DEFENDS U.S. CONSTITUTION (HB2)

@northcarolina

NC SUES FEDERAL GOVT BULLIES & DEFENDS U.S. CONSTITUTION (HB2):

GOV MCCRORY IS PROVEN TO BE A POLITICIAN WITH A REAL BACKBONE.

IT'S NOT ABOUT LGBT DISCRIMINATION, IT'S ABOUT ELIMINATING CIVIL LIBERTIES.

Sources:  The Hill, Fox News, CNN, YouTube

****** North Carolina Sues Federal Gov't Over Bathroom Law

Officials in North Carolina on Monday filed a lawsuit against the federal government in an effort to keep the state's controversial bathroom law in place, according to multiple reports.

The lawsuit comes after the Department of Justice (DOJ) told Gov. Pat McCrory (R) that the state's law — which requires transgender people to use the bathroom corresponding to their biological sex — violates the Civil Rights Act. 

The DOJ ordered McCrory to respond by Monday to confirm "that the State will not comply with or implement HB2."

North Carolina's lawsuit against the federal government said the DOJ's position is "baseless and blatant overreach," NBC News reported.

"If the United States desires a new protected class under Title VII, it must seek such action by the United States Congress," the suit said.

McCrory said Sunday that the state was given an "unrealistic" deadline for response, adding that the federal government is "being a bully."

"They gave the ninth-largest state in the United States ... three working days to respond to a pretty complex letter and to a pretty big threat," McCrory said on "Fox News Sunday."

"We don't think three working days is enough to respond to such a threat." 

The North Carolina law, condemned by LGBT rights supporters, also has provisions restricting local governments from enacting their own anti-discrimination legislation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

The DOJ announced that Attorney General Loretta Lynch will announce a "law enforcement action" connected to the state later Monday afternoon.

MCCRORY vs HB2 BACKLASH ON "MEET THE PRESS" (BULLYING & HYPOCRISY)

PAT MCCRORY vs HB2 BACKLASH ON "MEET THE PRESS":

MCCRORY ADDRESSES POLITICAL HYPOCRISY & HRC BULLYING.

CHARLOTTE'S REPEALED BATHROOM ORDINANCE EXCLUDED ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS BUT NOT PRIVATE SCHOOLS.

WHERE IS THE FAIRNESS IN THAT??

Sources:  NBC, Meet The Press, Charlotte Observer, Youtube

******Gov. McCrory Defends NC’s HB2 On "Meet the Press"

Gov. Pat McCrory defended North Carolina’s law on LGBT rights Sunday morning on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” but said the issue warrants further discussion and not overheated rhetoric.

The new law establishes a statewide nondiscrimination policy that excludes gender identity and sexual orientation as protected classes and forbids cities and counties from adopting their own policies. The governor said it wasn’t the state’s role to impose policies on the private sector.

But McCrory acknowledged that the issue of bathroom use by transgender people — which was the basis of the current controversy, following Charlotte’s attempt to allow choice according to gender identity, rather than physical sex at birth — needed to be addressed.

“We have to have more dialogue, not threats,” McCrory said.

Host Chuck Todd challenged McCrory on that point, noting that the General Assembly rushed a bill through in a single day in a hastily called special session and that the governor signed it into law that same night. “You guys debated for, like, 10 seconds,” Todd said.

McCrory said the speed was necessary to stop the Charlotte ordinance from going into effect on April 1.

“This is a national debate that has literally come on in the last three months,” McCrory said. “No one talked about it until Houston,” where voters rejected an ordinance expanding gay and transgender protections.

Todd said some of the same arguments on House Bill 2 were made by Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater in opposition to racial civil rights. “The same argument was used to defeat laws that are now considered untouchable,” Todd said.

McCrory said he didn’t know of any businesses in North Carolina that had discriminatory practices, and repeated, “This extremely new social norm came in a very quick time, and we need to have these discussions.”

Yet he only said the provision in HB2 that eliminated the ability to file employment discrimination lawsuits in state court should be repealed, not the bathroom provision.

Todd said NBC had estimated that North Carolina has lost $39.7 million to $186 million because of the law, and that others had estimated the loss in billions of dollars, due to companies and events not coming to the state in protest.

McCrory also said the national news media incorrectly have compared the law to religious freedom bills in Georgia and Mississippi, noting that last year he vetoed a bill that would have allowed magistrates to opt out of performing same-sex marriages.

“We haven’t had a religious freedom bill, because I’m governor,” he said.

McCrory said there is a disconnect between national corporations and everyday people.

“You know, I was in Hamlet, North Carolina, a small town that can be at any town in the United States of America,” he said. “I walked into a buffet restaurant, African American buffet restaurant, and the people just welcomed me with open arms and said, ‘Thanks for protecting us.’ I got back in my car, and I got a call from someone in corporate America going, ‘Man, you’ve got to change this. We’re getting killed.’”

Earlier in the program actor George Clooney called North Carolina’s law “ridiculous.” McCrory said Hollywood didn’t have a place in a serious discussion about the issue, and said the new Batman movie was being shown in China, which has a terrible human rights record.

McCrory’s appearance on national TV comes despite his lack of appearances in North Carolina. He has held only one brief news conference and one TV interview on the topic since signing the bill.

Soon after the TV show, McCrory’s campaign committee emailed a plea for contributions, saying the governor had just left the set, where he “defended North Carolina against the coordinated campaign of attacks and selective outrage from out-of-state special interests, the corporate elite and the national media.”

The campaign of attorney General Roy Cooper, who is running against McCrory for governor, sent out a response to the TV appearance: “Today Governor McCrory doubled down on his belief that businesses should be able to fire an employee for being gay,” spokesman Jamal Little said. “It’s that antiquated, discriminatory attitude that is driving businesses away and hurting our reputation.”

Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the national organization fighting to overturn HB2, issued his own reaction in an email:

“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. 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 HB2 repealed.”

During “Meet the Press,” McCroy cited the Human Rights Campaign as an impediment to constructive conversation, calling them “more powerful than the NRA.”

“But they are putting on a lot of pressure, instead of having good dialogue,” he said.

An earlier version of this post inadvertently said McCrory called the new law government overreach. He was referring to the Charlotte ordinance.

HB2 IS THE 2016 ELECTION LITMUS TEST

HB2 IS THE 2016 ELECTION LITMUS TEST

OBAMA FUNDAMENTALLY TRANSFORMED AMERICA'S FABRIC.

Sources:  NCSPIN, WRAL, News Observer

The HB2 Political fray is NOT about Anti-Discrimination or LGBT Rights.

Instead it's about forcing 2016 voters to choose whom they will serve Fundamentally.

**** WRAL Poll: HB2 Could Have An Impact On Elections

The conflict over House Bill 2, the recently passed measure setting statewide discrimination standards, could reverberate into the fall general election, likely voters told a WRAL News poll.

Conducted by SurveyUSA exclusively for WRAL News, the poll found Republican Gov. Pat McCrory trailing Democratic challenger Roy Cooper 43 percent to 47 percent, with more than two-thirds of voters saying that a politician’s position on the bill will either “strongly” or “somewhat” influence their votes.

“Probably the past two weeks have taken a toll on McCrory, and he needs to hope for a short ‘short’ legislative session this summer so he can get into the summer and re-balance the political equation,” said Michael Bitzer, a professor of political science at Catawba College.

McCrory has defended the bill after signing it only hours after it passed the General Assembly on March 23. Cooper has labeled the bill “a disgrace” and refused to defend it in court.

“For both McCrory and Cooper, it’s a dynamic that probably both of them want to go away, except that it seems to energize their respective bases,” Bitzer said.

Both of the candidates have used House Bill 2 to raise money and have been regularly communicating with supporters about the bill.

The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points, meaning that Cooper and McCrory are still in a statistical tie. However, the result is the reverse of a finding by liberal-leaning Public Policy Polling, which found McCrory leading Cooper by 2 percentage points just before lawmakers passed House Bill 2.

The WRAL News poll reflects a “significant” gender gap, Bitzer said, with Cooper leading McCrory among women 50 percent to 38 percent.

It’s unclear whether House Bill 2 played a role in Cooper’s overall lead on McCrory. The numbers of voters who said they approve or disapprove of McCrory’s job performance did not move significantly between a WRAL News poll released just before the March 15 primary and this week’s survey. However, Cooper’s approval rating climbed 18 points during the same time period.

Similarly, only 30 percent of respondents said they approve of the job the North Carolina General Assembly is doing, with 51 percent disapproving. Those numbers are about the same as a month ago.

Of respondents likely to cast ballots in November, 58 percent said a candidate’s position on House Bill 2 would strongly influence his or her vote, while another 24 percent said a candidate’s position would somewhat influence his or her vote. Only 14 percent said the bill would have no impact. Voters who identified themselves as strongly liberal or conservative were more likely to report that the measure would have a strong impact on their votes.

It’s one of those cultural issues that can get legs,” said Carter Wrenn, a veteran Republican political consultant. “It has landed in politics where it has gotten plenty muddied up, but it’s a cultural issue.”

Wrenn said it was typical for partisans to feel more strongly about an issue like House Bill 2. But 56 percent of voters who identified themselves as truly independent – leaning neither Republican nor Democratic – said it would also be on their minds when they go to the polls.

Gary Pearce, a longtime Democratic consultant, pointed out that the law has dominated newspaper headlines and local television news and has even been featured on national news programs.

“Here’s the one thing that is different right now – there’s an enormous amount of coverage. It dominates anything else in North Carolina politics. The question is, will that continue?” Pearce said.

If the intensity of news coverage slackens, he said, so will electoral passions with regard to the bill.

MCCRORY HANDLES HB2 BACKLASH WITH BALANCED APPROACH - EXPANDS ANTI-DISCRIMINATION PROTECTION

  HB2 UPDATE:

MCCRORY HANDLES HB2 BACKLASH WITH BALANCED APPROACH - EXPANDS ANTI-DISCRIMINATION PROTECTION:

...

MAINTAINS COMMON SENSE PRIVACY PROTECTIONS FOR SCHOOL BATHROOMS & LOCKER ROOMS.

I STAND WITH MCCRORY FOR HIS COURAGE AND LEADERSHIP CHARACTER.

 Sources:  Charlotte Observer,  CBS, YouTube

**** Gov. McCrory, Facing HB2 Criticism, Expands Anti-Discrimination Protections 

~ Executive order expands state employment policy to cover sexual orientation and gender identity 

~ Order affirms rights of local governments and businesses to establish their own anti-discrimination policies for employees

~ Order maintains ‘gender-specific restroom and locker room facilities’ in government buildings and schools

Gov. Pat McCrory on Tuesday responded to growing criticism of HB2 with an executive order that expands state employment policy to cover sexual orientation and gender identity and affirming the rights of local governments and businesses to establish their own anti-discrimination policies for employees. 

McCrory also promised to seek legislation to reinstate the right to sue in state court for discrimination, a right eliminated by House Bill 2.

At the same time, the governor said he would maintain “common sense gender-specific restroom and locker room facilities” in government buildings and schools.

“Simply put I have listened to the people of North Carolina and the people of North Carolina are entitled to both privacy and equality,” the governor said in a video message.

LGBT CULTURE WARS: DESIGNED TO DESTROY UNITED STATES (HB2)

LGBT CULTURE WARS:

DESIGNED TO DESTROY THE UNITED STATES

THE ROMAN ARMY WAS DEFEATED VIA HOMOSEXUALITY.

IT'S TIME TO PRAY AND VOTE BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.

Sources: WND, NBC, Lost History.com, Youtube

Despite what propaganda Mainstream Media networks report to American citizens, the LGBT movement culture war is not about DISCRIMINATION.

Nor is the LGBT movement culture war about Transgender Bathroom Sharing Ordinances.

To the contrary!

Instead the LGBT movement culture war is really about destroying Christianity and dividing the United States, just as the Roman Army was eventually defeated via transforming the Roman soldiers into Homosexuals.

I am well aware that the main focus and discussion of this post is a controversial topic but......

Will the citizens of 21st century America wake up to what is actually going on in this country before it's too late?

Or is the USA headed for eternal Moral and Political DESTRUCTION?

Rome didn't fall in a day.

I say it's time to Pray and Vote before it's too late.

***** CHRISTIANS MUST UNITE AGAINST GAY BULLIES

Michael Brown urges readers to take action in support of religious freedom.

The mayor of San Francisco has banned all publicly funded city employees from traveling to North Carolina.

The NFL threatened to block Atlanta, Georgia, from hosting a future Super Bowl.

The NBA is threatening to relocate next year’s All Star game from Charlotte, North Carolina, to another city.

Corporate giants like American Airlines and Hollywood giants like Disney are threatening action against Georgia and North Carolina.

Why?

It is because North Carolina has passed a bill requiring people to use the public bathroom or locker room that corresponds to their birth certificate gender and because Georgia has enacted legislation (subsequently vetoed by the governor) that would protect pastors from having to perform same-sex “marriages.”

It is time for Christians and all people of conscience to say, “Enough is enough with your bullying. We are not going to bow down to your threats. We will do what is right, regardless of cost or consequence, and in the end, we will be vindicated for taking a stand.”

As for Ed Lee, the mayor of San Francisco, he’s acting more like a dictator than a mayor. Who gave him the right to tell city-funded employees where they could travel in their own country, once known as “the land of the free”?

Unfortunately, the pattern is all too familiar.

A state like Indiana passes a Religious Freedom Restoration Act that mirrors national law, as a result of which gay bullies and their allies threaten to pull their businesses from the state – from Wal-Mart to Apple to Craig’s List to the NCAA – and within days, the governor and the legislation cave, passing a new law that makes things worse than ever. (This happened in March 2015; the Indianan legislators and governor have since pushed back to some degree.)

We cannot let this happen in our states (I have lived in North Carolina since 2003), and as believers nationwide, we must stand together and reject these pressure tactics and call them out for what they are: unethical, strong-armed bullying.

Never bow down to bullies!

The culture war is not over! Gain hope, courage and practical advice in Michael Brown’s latest book, “Outlasting the Gay Revolution: Where Homosexual Activism Is Really Going and How to Turn the Tide”

Earlier this year, I helped draft an eight-page letter to the mayor and City Council of Charlotte, detailing the negative effects their new “anti-LGBT discrimination” bill could have. (Ironically, a gay man who was instrumental in helping to push this bill through was a convicted, child sex-offender who has since resigned as president of Charlotte’s LGBT Chamber of Commerce because of his past record.)

Among the negative effects of this bill outlined in my letter were:

• The door would be opened wide to heterosexual predators who would use transgender bathroom rights to spy on girls and women (for chilling video evidence of what these heterosexual predators have done, see here).
• The proposed changes could lead to widespread discrimination against Christians and other people of faith who, in good conscience, could not participate in same-sex “weddings” (such as photographers, bakers, florists, and others). The law would now be decidedly against them.

I also noted that, “National studies indicate that states which do not have non-discrimination laws including ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ are suffering no ill effects economically,” dispelling the myth that only “progressive” (= “pro-LGBT”) cities are prospering. The evidence is clearly against this.

This is yet another reason to stand up to the bullies: Good business practices and hard work lead to prosperity, not being politically correct. (For the truth about the North Carolina bill, which the secular media is largely failing to report, see here, and note that in North Carolina, some of the companies protesting the loudest already have policies to protect LGBT “rights,” and those policies are completely unaffected by the new law.)

In Georgia, the main focus was preserving religious freedoms, such as protecting pastors from having to perform same-sex “wedding” ceremonies. (Religious freedoms were certainly an issue in North Carolina, but the central focus here was on the bathroom bill.)

Yet as Ryan Anderson pointed out, the bill passed by the Georgia Legislature was quite narrow in its protections, contained language that could be used against people of faith and was a significantly gutted version of a far from perfect original bill.

In other words, the bill Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed Monday is quite tame, simply providing the barest of protections of our religious liberties, yet it still created an uproar of protest, as “More than 30 of Hollywood’s heaviest hitters sent a threatening letter to Gov. Nathan Deal, telling him in no uncertain terms that if he passes the religious-freedom bill the legislature handed him for consideration, they’ll never work in Georgia again.”

As I have warned for years (and repeated almost ad infinitum), the activists who came out of the closet want to put you and me in the closet, and they will not rest until that door is safely shut. It is time for us to say: That will never happen, and we will go to jail rather than compromise our convictions. Your bullying will backfire in the end.

When it comes to transgender issues, we are dealing with an unquantifiable, untestable condition that relies entirely on self-perception (and can switch by the day or the hour), as noted by Margaret A. Hagen, professor of psychological and brain sciences at Boston University. Yet the mayor of Seattle recently used an executive order to allow biological males to use women’s bathrooms.

What kind of social madness is this?

In the days to come, I plan to lay out some specific calls to action, including a strategy for Christian athletes in the NFL and NBA. But for now, it’s time for us to get on our knees before God so we can stand tall before man, resolving in our hearts that, whatever it takes (in godly, not fleshly terms), we will do what is right. (For an excellent, strategic handbook, see here.)

For the moment, I encourage you to take a moment to send a note of appreciation to Gov. Pat McCrory in North Carolina for not caving in (he will be under heavy pressure in the days ahead). Will you stop and do that right now?

Billy Graham once said, “Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.”

Let courage spread from you to others – in your home, your school, your place of business, your congregation – beginning today.

We will not bow down to the bullies!