Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and Durham Chamber of Commerce Urge Repeal of HB2

This week, the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce urged North Carolina Governor Pay McCrory to repeal HB2, 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.

“The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce opposes HB2 and calls for its immediate repeal,” the organization shared in a statement. “This legislation is bad for business and bad for North Carolina. We must eliminate the issues this legislation creates. The Greater Raleigh Chamber will work with Gov. Pat McCrory, legislators, and other elected leaders to find a solution that is in the best interest of our region and state while strengthening our commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equality.”

Earlier this week, HRC announced 160 major corporations have signed an open letter urging Gov. McCrory and the North Carolina General Assembly to repeal the radical provisions in the deeply discriminatory law. PayPal and Deutsche Bank, have stopped investments in North Carolina because of H.B. 2 and Bruce Springsteen, Boston and Pearl Jam have cancelled concerts in the state to stand in solidarity with LGBT people across North Carolina and the nation. Basketball players including Charles Barkley and Jason Collins have called on the NBA to move the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte if the law is not repealed.

Additionally, earlier today, the American Academy of Pediatrics warned the governor and state legislators about the dangers HB2 poses to youth across the state.

“The Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce stands with the many companies, communities and individuals in opposing HB2 and all legislation which discriminates against men, women, governments and private companies living in, traveling to and doing business in North Carolina,” president and CEO Geoff Durham said in a news release. “Durham is an inclusive community which is home to many diverse people, festivals and research centers.”

Gov. Pat McCrory and state lawmakers are under increasingly intense pressure to repeal the discriminatory HB 2 in next week’s legislative session.  In addition to the businesses, mayors and governors across the country are banning travel to the state, musicians are cancelling concerts, and The New York Times editorial board called North Carolina a “pioneer in bigotry.”

HB 2 has eliminated existing municipal non-discrimination protections for LGBT people and prevents such protections from being passed by cities in the future. In addition, the legislation prevents transgender students in public schools from using restrooms and other facilities consistent with their gender identity. It also compels the same type of discrimination against transgender people to take place in publicly-owned buildings, including in public universities, major airports, and convention centers. Further, HB 2 revokes the ability to sue under state employment non-discrimination law on the basis of any protected characteristic, including race, religion, national origin, and sex.  Lawmakers passed the legislation in a hurried, single-day session, and Governor McCrory quickly signed it into law in the dead of night. The discriminatory law is already facing a legal challenge, and North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said he will refuse to defend it in court.

www.hrc.org/blog/greater-raleigh-and-durham-chamber-of-commerce-urge-repeal-of-hb2?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Customers Are OK With Transgender People In Advertising, But Don’t Know What It Means

People are generally okay with seeing transgender people in ads, but that doesn’t mean they understand who transgender people are.

The post Customers Are OK With Transgender People In Advertising, But Don’t Know What It Means appeared first on ThinkProgress.

thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/04/19/3770676/transgender-advertising-study/

HRC Hails Historic Federal Court Decision Upholding Civil Rights Protections for Trans Students

HRC hailed today’s Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding the U.S. Department of Education’s assertion that federal civil rights laws protect transgender students from discrimination.

In a 2-1 decision, the court affirmed the Department of Education’s interpretation of Title IX of the Education Act of 1972 as protecting transgender students from discrimination, including allowing them to use restrooms consistent with their gender identity. The ruling came in the case of Gavin Grimm, a 16-year-old high school student and transgender teen, whose lawsuit against Virginia’s Gloucester County School District alleges the district violated Title IX by denying him use of  the boy’s restroom.

“Today’s historic decision is not only a victory for Gavin, but for all transgender young people who are being targeted by discriminatory actions — including North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory’s anti-transgender HB2 law,”said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “This ruling not only gives appropriate deference to the Department of Education’s interpretation of Title IX as allowing transgender students to use school restrooms consistent with their gender identity, it also is binding on the state of North Carolina. We therefore expect public schools, including those in North Carolina, to immediately comply, ensuring transgender students full protections under the law, which includes full access to the appropriate facilities.”

While today’s ruling guarantees  protections for transgender students in North Carolina, it does not address the other  discriminatory provisions contained in HB2. As a result, HRC continues to call for full repeal of the discriminatory HB2 law, which also prevents transgender youth and adults from using restrooms consistent with their gender identity in all government-owned buildings, including in libraries, major airports, and convention centers. HB2 also eliminated existing municipal non-discrimination protections for LGBT people and prevents such protections from being passed by cities in the future.  Further, HB2 revokes the ability to sue under state employment non-discrimination law on the basis of any protected characteristic, including race, religion, national origin, and sex. Lawmakers passed the legislation in a hurried, single-day session, and Governor McCrory quickly signed it into law in the dead of night.

The discriminatory law is already facing a legal challenge, and North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said he will refuse to defend it in court.

The ruling comes as a number of states — most recently South Carolina — have introduced legislation attacking transgender students by preventing their access to appropriate restroom and other facilities in schools. Last month, North Carolina became the first state in the country to enact a law attacking transgender students, even after similar proposals were being rejected across the country — including a high-profile veto by the Republican Governor Dennis Daugaard of South Dakota. Just yesterday, the sponsor of a similar bill in Tennessee announced plans to pull the discriminatory legislation from consideration this year, after outcry from tens of thousands of fair-minded Tennesseans; major national child welfare, medical, and education groups; country music stars; and major business leaders. Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and Attorney General Slatery had also expressed concerns about the state losing millions of dollars in federal funds.

Today’s ruling by the Fourth Circuit affirms that school districts denying transgender students access to bathrooms consistent with their gender identity are in direct violation of Title IX.  That’s true of the Virginia district that has been discriminating against Grimm, and it is true of any school that chooses to comply with HB2 in North Carolina, which is also in the Fourth Circuit.  HB2 subjects schools to massive liability, and it puts an estimated $4.5 billion of federal funding from the U.S. Department of Education at risk, as well as  other funds a school may receive from another federal source.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-hails-historic-federal-court-decision-upholding-civil-rights-protection?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Sundance Institute joins entertainment community in saying NO to anti-LGBT bills

www.glaad.org/blog/sundance-institute-joins-entertainment-community-saying-no-anti-lgbt-bills

McCrory’s HB2 Draws Rebuke from American Academy of Pediatrics

Today, HRC called on North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory and state lawmakers to heed a warning from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) about the dangers HB2 poses to youth across the state. This morning, the AAP called for Governor McCrory and state legislative leaders to repeal the vicious HB2 bill they rammed through the state legislature last month. In a release from the AAP and its North Carolina chapter, leaders from the nationally-recognized children’s health and welfare organization specifically condemn the discriminatory provision in the new law that further marginalizes transgender students by preventing them from using restrooms consistent with their gender identity, in violation of federal law.

Karen Remley, MD, MBA, MPH, FAAP, executive director and chief executive officer of the AAP, said, “The message some public leaders have chosen is not the message we should be telling transgender children and teens. The message of the American Academy of Pediatrics to transgender youth is this: we support you, and we will speak up for you. And so today, we do. We urge the governor of North Carolina and all other states considering similar measures to reconsider and repeal these harmful policies, and in so doing, stand up for transgender children.”

“Today, the well respected, nonpartisan American Academy of Pediatrics called for the immediate repeal of HB2,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “Governor McCrory and state legislative leaders should listen to the overwhelming bipartisan chorus calling for the repeal of this shameful law before more harm is inflicted upon the state and its people.”

Earlier this month, HRC released a new video from health care professionals speaking out against this type of dangerous and appalling legislation targeting transgender students. As anti-equality activists across the country push for laws targeting transgender youth and adults, these experts – including pediatricians, a social worker, therapist, and family physician – who work with transgender youth and their families are speaking out, challenging harmful myths and stereotypes, and showing their support for transgender youth.

In an open letter released by HRC in February, the AAP also joined other major national health, education, and child advocacy groups – including the American Counseling Association, the American School Counselor Association, the Child Welfare League of America, the National Association of School Psychologists, the National Association of Social Workers, and the National Education Association – in expressing their grave concerns and objections to this type of legislation and urging governors across the country to reject them if they reach their desk.

Gov. Pat McCrory and state lawmakers are under increasingly intense pressure to repeal the discriminatory HB 2 in next week’s legislative session. Mayors and governors across the country are banning travel to the state, musicians are cancelling concerts, and the New York Times editorial board called North Carolina a “pioneer in bigotry.” Major film studios and corporations, from PayPal to Deutsche Bank, have stopped investments in the state because of the new law. More than 160 major CEOs and business leaders are calling on Gov. McCrory and state lawmakers to repeal the discriminatory law.

HB 2 has eliminated existing municipal non-discrimination protections for LGBT people and prevents such protections from being passed by cities in the future. In addition, the legislation prevents transgender students in public schools from using restrooms and other facilities consistent with their gender identity. It also compels the same type of discrimination against transgender people to take place in publicly-owned buildings, including in public universities, major airports, and convention centers. Further, HB 2 revokes the ability to sue under state employment non-discrimination law on the basis of any protected characteristic, including race, religion, national origin, and sex.  Lawmakers passed the legislation in a hurried, single-day session, and Governor McCrory quickly signed it into law in the dead of night. The discriminatory law is already facing a legal challenge, and North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said he will refuse to defend it in court.

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.

www.hrc.org/blog/mccrorys-hb2-draws-rebuke-from-american-academy-of-pediatrics?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Belinda Carlisle to MS Governor: nothing less Christian than new discriminatory law

www.glaad.org/blog/belinda-carlisle-ms-governor-nothing-less-christian-new-discriminatory-law