As stated in a Buzzfeed article written by Dominic Holden, as Wednesday morning, March 23rd,
2016, the Republican leaders of the
North Carolina General Assembly passed a bill that is on its way to Governor
Pat McCrory for veto or approval. The bill would repeal all local LGBT
nondiscrimination ordinances in the state and ban transgender people from
certain restrooms. The House voted 83-25 and the Senate voted 32-0. The Senate
was a unanimous vote only because every Democratic senator walked out.
The Republicans argued that they were only taking such
drastic measures because they needed to protect women and portrayed transgender
people as sex predators. They were trying to get rid of an ordinance in
Charlotte that would protect LGBT people from discrimination in housing and
public accommodations saying that it would create a safety risk because it
allows transgender women (who they call “men”) to prey on women and girls.
This would also lead to a ban on transgender students from
school restrooms that correspond with their gender identity, which could posh a
potential clash with the federal government—their civil rights laws ban
transgender discrimination in schools.
The Democratic lawmakers were not given a chance to read the
bill Wednesday, which was introduced just an hour before its first committee
vote. As the Republicans argument is to protect women from
transgendered people, their argument is extremely weak. There are no known
instances in 17 states and 225 cities with laws banning LGBT discrimination of
the policies being used to promote or defend predatory behavior in bathrooms
and locker rooms.
They targeted the LGBT population and in the name of protection for women to cover their homophobic
unwillingness to accept people of all backgrounds and identities. The fact that these issues are still being debated in the year 2016 is astounding. We have made leaps and bounds in reaching equality for minority LGBTQ populations, but this article simply proves that we have much farther to go.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/dominicholden/north-carolina-lgbt-discrimintion#.nw5DgxwqO
There are so many things wrong with what is going on here it's actually hard to believe. Like you said, the fact that this type of stuff is even still happening in 2016 is really sad. I understand that there are people in the world who have these views, and I do think that everyone has a right to their own opinion, but just because they have their own messed up thoughts about transgender people doesn't mean they have to do something so radical. Their argument doesn't even make sense. First of all, if they do think that transgender people are sex predators, why would women be the only people they'd target? Wouldn't they want to do something to protect children as well? Also, it doesn't make any sense to ban all LGBTQ+ people if transgender people are the only ones they're worried about. Their argument is totally counterproductive when it comes to women who are lesbian, gay or bisexual. They're banning them from certain places in order to protect them...? As a gay woman (and human) this type of stuff makes me really sad and lose even more faith in our government.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your blog post, I came across an article titled, "Disney Threatens Bad News for Georgia If State Adopts Anti-LGBT Law," which talks about how the Walt Disney Company will nix all plans to film future movies in Georgia if Gov. Nathan Deal signs the deal. Gov. Deal has until May 3 to either veto or sign the bill, which will determine the actions of Disney. There are currently 2 films being shot in Georgia, "Ant-Man" and "Captain America: Civil War," but a Disney spokesperson has said that they have had great successes filming in Georgia but will take there business somewhere else because they are an inclusive company that will not tolerate discrimination.
ReplyDeleteDisney is the first major Hollywood name to speak out against this anti-LGBT law, and they are urging other big corporations to do the same. It has also been reported that other Atlanta based companies such as Coca-Cola, Home Depot, and UPS have also opposed the bill.
With huge companies advocating against this law, I think it will make a big impact in the Governor's choice, or at least we can hope. This kind of oppression reminds me of the struggles that African American's went through. I feel as if history is repeating itself, did our country not learn anything? I completely agree with Payton that we have made so many strides forward, but this issue is setting us back.
ARTICLE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/disney-marvel-lgbt-law_us_56f2d6c4e4b0c3ef521795e1