San Francisco 49ers Call for a Repeal of N.C.’s Anti-LGBT Law

Jed York, The CEO of the 49ers called HB 2 "bad for our employees, bad for our fans, and bad for business."

Jed York, The CEO of the 49ers called HB 2 “bad for our employees, bad for our fans, and bad for business.”

Jed York, the CEO of the San Francisco 49ers, is calling for a repeal of North Carolina’s anti-LGBT House Bill 2.

The National Football League hosted meetings in Charlotte, N.C., this week. Chris Sgro, the executive direcctor of Equality N.C. and the only openly LGBT person in the North Carolina legislature, says it was during this time that York chose to meet with LGBT advocates and transgender North Carolinians to learn about the impact of the anti-LGBT law. Sgro announced that the 49ers were contributing a gift of $75,000 to the Equality North Carolina Foundation to support the work of the organization.

In a statement published Tuesday, York said the San Francisco 49ers are “deeply concerned” about HB 2 because the team believes that “discriminatory laws” are “bad for our employees, bad for our fans, and bad for business.”

[…]

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 country,” said York, the CEO of the 49ers. York echoed a fear many North Carolinians have expressed, which is that HB 2 has and will continue to create loss in business for the state. The law will “diminish the state’s draw as a destination for sporting events, tourism and conventions, and new business activity,” the CEO said. York added that his team “prides” itself on inclusivity and will “strongly urge” Gov. Pat McCrory and the North Carolina legislature to repeal HB 2.

Perhaps the threat of no more new NC sports stars will get through to McCrory. Nothing else has worked so far. I am not remotely into sports, but a big Yay! for Jed York and the 49ers.

Full Story Here.

Trans* Support

AP Photo / Shutterstock

AP Photo / Shutterstock

John asked American elected officials to recognize the concerns of all people, including transgender individuals, in a commentary for The Hill. He called the North Carolina law a “brand of ignorance” that “shuts out the perspective of an already marginalized community” and expressed concern over similarly bigoted legislation introduced in other states.

While John mentioned the “millions of taxpayers dollars” wasted in defending the law, above all, he called North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory’s discriminatory law “a failure of compassion.”

Full Story Here.

AP Photo

AP Photo

On the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, President Obama has released a statement reminding nations around the world of “the simple truth that LGBT rights are human rights.”

In the statement, posted on the White House website, Obama noted his administration’s activism on behalf of LGBT people and the recent advances made in LGBT rights, such as the Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision last year. “At the same time, there is much work to be done to combat homophobia and transphobia, both at home and abroad,” he noted.

Full Story Here.

“I know you’re hearing a lot of hateful rhetoric about our LGBT families,” says Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego. “Please, hang in there.”

 

To mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, 25 Democratic members of Congress are promising to stand with LGBT Americans in the face of hateful legislation and rhetoric.In a video kicking off the #WeAreWithYou campaign, members of the Congressional Equality Caucus channel U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s historic remarks last week, when she told the beleaguered transgender community, “We see you, we stand with you, and we will do everything we can to support you going forward.”

The congressional campaign is led by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, New York’s first openly gay member of Congress and cochair of the Congressional LGBT Caucus. Maloney published a compilation video on his YouTube channel this morning, featuring clips of each of the featured members of Congress; full-length videos are slated to be published by each Democrat’s office throughout the day.

[…]

“Discrimination has no place in the law, and these attempts to legalize hate are shameful,” Maloney said in a press release announcing the campaign. “These laws tell LGBT people that who they are or who they love makes them less valuable as human beings — and that’s just wrong. I started this campaign because, from North Carolina to Missouri, I want LGBT Americans to know that they are not alone. So I am asking my colleagues in Congress and folks across the country to join me and tell our LGBT brothers and sisters, ‘We’ve got your back, and we’re going to keep fighting for you until we win.’”

Full Story Here.

London

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, flew the rainbow flag from City Hall on Tuesday to commemorate the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. […] “I could not be more proud to help celebrate IDAHOT 2016 by flying the Pride flag here at City Hall,” said Khan in a statement to U.K. LGBT outlet Pink News.

Full Story Here.

European Union Denounces HB 2.

europeanunion

The European Union spoke out against North Carolina’s anti-LGBT House Bill 2 this week, saying that it should “be reconsidered as soon as possible.”

In a statement released this week, the European Union singled out North Carolina’s HB 2, as well as the anti-LGBT laws that have passed in states such as Tennessee and Mississippi recently. The European Union said that those states “are violating an international agreement on civil rights,” reports The News & Observer.

[…]

The statement from the European Union posted online said that “traditional or religious values” should not be used to “justify any form of discrimination, including discrimination against LGBTI persons. These laws should be reconsidered as soon as possible.”

The European Union announced their support of the LGBT community in the statement, writing, “We will continue to work to end all forms of discrimination and to counter attempts to embed or enhance discrimination wherever it occurs around the world.”

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory’s campaign spokesman, Ricky Diaz, took no offense with the European Union’s statement.

“We relinquished our adherence to the British crown and European powers over 200 years ago,” Diaz, reports the Observer. “The law is now in federal court, where it will be resolved.”

[…]

N.C. Republican Party executive director Dallas Woodhouse told the Observer that the European Union’s statement was “absolutely no surprise since North Carolina Democrats led by Roy Cooper want to install European socialist policies … that are an affront to the common sense traditions of North Carolina and America.”

Full Story Here.  “Common sense traditions”. No, fuck that noise. North Carolina does not define America, and if there is any NC tradition going here, it’s one of bigotry. Given the amount of in state protest against this bigotry, I’m afraid those “common sense traditions” don’t define North Carolina, either.

phil-bryant-x750

Gov. Phil Bryant.

In related news, Gov. Phil Bryant (Mississippi), is speaking out against the new federal education guidelines.

The Mississippi Gov.,who recently passed an anti-LGBT law in his state, spoke out against the Obama administration’s directive that transgender students are protected under Title IX.

In a Facebook post published on Friday, Phil Bryant said that the “Mississippi Department of Education should disregard the so-called guidance the Obama administration has issued regarding public schools’ restroom policies.”

[…]

The Mississippi Gov. called the directive “nonbinding,” saying it “does not carry the force of law.” “Because these decisions are better left to the states, and not made at the point of a federal bayonet, Mississippi’s public schools should not participate in the president’s social experiment,” said the Gov. via Facebook.

Full Story Here.

travis_weber_750

Travis Weber, Family Research Council.

Travis Weber, of the Family Research Council, played a game of “I can’t answer that question” on Hardball.

Travis Weber, a member of the anti-LGBT hate group, Family Research Council, went on MSNBC’s Hardball on Friday, but refused to answer whether a trans woman belonged in a men’s bathroom or a woman’s bathroom.

[…]

Chris Matthews directed his next question at Weber, saying, “Tell her what bathroom she shoud use.”

The Family Research Council member refused to answer the question. Matthews asked the same question again: “What should a transgender person who identifies as a woman do? What bathroom should they go to? Just keep it simple.”

Matthews became visibly frustrated when Weber kept dodging his question. “You can’t answer the question, can you?,” said the MSNBC host.

Weber finally gave Matthews a response, saying, “They can use the bathroom of their biological sex, except when there’s a genuine issue, and an accomodation can be made.”

The MSNBC host was unsatisfied with his response. He asked Weber, “What does that mean?”

Full Story Here.

F*CK HB 2

north-carolina-beer-company-protests-anti-lgbt-billx750

North Carolina’s beer industry has a message for the governor: Hate has no place in their state.

In response to House Bill 2, the controversial law that forces trans people to use the public restroom that does not correspond with their gender identity, the state’s Wedge Brewing Company has begun printing “#F*CK HB2” on its beverages. The can of the company’s popular Iron Rail IPA, features the hashtag printed on the bottom of the can. It’s designed to look like a serial number.

[…]

“We’ve seen businesses, municipalities, and even rock legends from around the country punish North Carolina for passing this law,” Myers said in a statement. “We’ve seen business expansions and job opportunities pull out of the state. We see that our communities are being harmed by this action.” He further added: “We didn’t feel like HB2 represented us as businesses or as residents of North Carolina.”

In April, over 40 local companies announced that they would be releasing a limited-edition brew to raise money for local LGBT non-profits, including Equality North Carolina and Queer Oriented Radical Days of Summer (QORDS), a summer camp specifically for LGBT youth. The beer, called “Don’t Be Mean to People, A Golden Rule Saison,” will be available locally in May.

Full Story Here.

In related news, McCrory has found a whole new career in whining. What now? Well, the new federal education guidelines. Pat doesn’t like them.

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Bryant: We Are So Persecuted!

Phil Bryant (Facebook)

Phil Bryant (Facebook)

Oh, the whining. It never ends. Are these fossils ever going to realize it’s time for them to fade away, quietly? One of the most unattractive things about Christians is the constant need to feel persecuted, to somehow make a case that yes, oh yes, we are too persecuted! The very presence of anyone they don’t like, persecution! “Oh, it makes us think about things, thinking is bad.”

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant complained Christians are still being bullied in his state because not everyone agrees with their interpretation of a law that permits discrimination against LGBT people.

Bryant insisted the law was intended to prevent discrimination against Christians by allowing them to deny service, housing, medical treatment and some government documents to LGBT people or even unmarried couples — so long as they claim a religious objection.

[…]

“I mean, they cherry-pick these issues,” Bryant said during an appearance on a religious-right radio program. “If they had any integrity at all, they would say, ‘We understand Mississippi is actually trying to make sure that Christians and people of other faiths are not discriminated against.’ It is a nondiscriminatory law. It prevents discrimination against simply that segment of the population that has a deeply held religious view about marriage.”

The Republican governor whined that “dear friend Pat McCrory,” the governor of North Carolina, is also facing a political and corporate backlash after signing a similar anti-LGBT law.

[…]

Bryant complained that Christians were facing discrimination from anyone who disagreed with their interpretation of the law as one that protected the rights of religious people to practice their faith.

“We’re criticized, we’re threatened, we’re bullied, we’re told by corporations that we’re doing the wrong thing?” Bryant said.

[…]

Despite court challenges, directives from the U.S. Department of Justice and boycotts against their states, Bryant said he was certain he and his counterpart in North Carolina had significant support nationwide.

“I think the rest of the nation is beginning to wake up and say, ‘What world do they think we’re living in? This is not Hollywood, this is not more liberal areas, this is America, where common sense still prevails,’” Bryant said.

Aaaaand we’re back to that common sense bullshit. Interesting, that going by Bryant, Hollywood and more liberal areas aren’t part of America.

Full Story Here.

NC: Cops Say No

Police in several major North Carolina cities told NPR they will not penalize nor arrest a trans person for using the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity. Photo: Shutterstock.

Police in several major North Carolina cities told NPR they will not penalize nor arrest a trans person for using the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity.
Photo: Shutterstock.

While legal battles rage on over North Carolina’s anti-LGBT law known as House Bill 2, law enforcement officers in the state won’t be arresting any restroom deviants any time soon.

Damien Graham, a spokesman for the Raleigh Police Department, told NPR on Tuesday that his department will not enforce the sweeping law, which requires transgender people to use public bathrooms that do not match their gender identity, because “the bill doesn’t speak to enforcement nor penalty.”

Raleigh Police had attorneys review the language of HB 2, but since there “wasn’t any specific language that spoke to enforcement or even penalty,” the department wasn’t sure how its officers could enforce the law, Graham told NPR.

[…]

If the police receive a complaint about someone in the “wrong” bathroom, the department will respond, says Graham, but officers will not penalize or arrest anyone for using the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity.

[…]

Christina Hallingse, the public information officer for the police department in Asheville, told NPR that it would be nearly impossible to enforce HB 2. Doing so would drain the department’s resources, because it would require officers to stand guard outside public restrooms asking people to present their birth certificates before entering these gender-segregated spaces.

“It would take them off the streets, off patrol and having to put them at bathrooms,” explained Hallingse of the logistics of enforcing HB 2.

Full Story at The Advocate.

While it’s very nice to see police paying attention to reality, and doing the right thing for a change, McCrory continues on in stubborn asshole mode. Apparently he thinks he has a chance in the upcoming election, and is selling these bumper stickers for a donation:

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“It’s just common sense” has been McCrory’s increasingly plaintive defense of HB 2 and the indefensible. I’m expecting he’ll be utterly trounced by Roy Cooper in the November election, and I’ll be happy to see it.

Bigger in Texas: Transphobia

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick at left; Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton at right

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick at left; Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton at right

Two of the state’s top elected officials — the lieutenant governor and the attorney general — both went on transphobic, fear-mongering tirades as North Carolina ramped up its defense of a controversial anti-trans law.

Moments after North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory announced Monday that he was suing the federal government over its determination that his state’s sweeping anti-LGBT law violates federal civil rights law, Texas’s top lawman rushed to his fellow Republican’s defense.

Local LGBT publication Dallas Voice posted the full statement from Attorney General Paxton, who is currently facing a federal securities fraud lawsuit, on top of similar charges filed against him  last year in state court. Paxton previously earned the ire of marriage equality supporters (and a formal ethics complaint) last year when he falsely informed Texas county clerks that they did not have to abide by the Supreme Court’s ruling bringing the freedom to marry to all 50 states.

Paxton said:

“The people of the United States, through their representatives in Congress, enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to ensure, in part, that men and women are treated equally. Congress has not changed this law to mean that individuals may choose whether they want to be male or female for the purpose of public accommodations. One’s sex is a biological fact, not a state of mind, and this threat to North Carolina is the latest in a long series of efforts by an unaccountable federal executive branch. My office stands with Governor McCrory and the people of North Carolina regarding this unconstitutional form of federal overreach.”

[…]

The same day, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — himself no stranger to transphobic fear mongering — took aim at a school superintendent who had approved a modestly trans-inclusive policy regarding bathroom and locker room access for students in the district.

Patrick suggested Monday that Kent Scribner, Fort Worth school district superintendent, should be removed from his position following the April 19 adoption of a district-wide policy that allows trans students to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

Full Story Here.

Obliterating male and female distinctives.

House Speaker Tim Moore (The News & Observer)

House Speaker Tim Moore (The News & Observer)

North Carolina Republican lawmakers vowed to defy a federal order to repeal or stop enforcing a controversial anti-LGBT law.

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday found the law violated the federal Civil Rights Act and Title IX, and officials ordered lawmakers to comply with those laws by next week or risk billions of dollars in federal education funding.

But House Speaker Tim Moore indicated Thursday that he and his fellow Republicans had no intention of meeting the federally mandated deadline, reported The News & Observer.

“We will take no action by Monday,” Moore said. “That deadline will come and go. We don’t ever want to lose any money, but we’re not going to get bullied by the Obama administration to take action prior to Monday’s date. That’s not how this works.”

[…]

One of their fellow Republicans, state Rep. Mark Walker, sniffed that Bruce Springsteen was a “bully” after the rock legend canceled a concert appearance over HB2.

“Bruce is known to be on the radical left,” Walker said. “He’s got every right to be so, but I consider this a bully tactic. It’s like when a kid gets upset and says he’s going to take his ball and go home.”

Aaaaand just what it is you all are doing? Mandating bigotry into law certainly seems like serious bullying to me.

The Christian Action League of North Carolina — one of the primary backers of the controversial law — offered a scenery-chewing statement urging GOP lawmakers to disobey the Obama administration:

“At the hands of his henchmen in the U.S. Department of Justice, King Obama, has delivered his message of intimidation to the state of North Carolina.

“The Administration has taken it upon itself to declare “sex” in Title VII and Title IX includes “sexual orientation” and “gender Identity.” This interpretation goes far beyond the language adopted and intended by Congress. Nevertheless, the Great Pontiff of Political Correctness holds the educational futures of our state’s children hostage, while dangling the money bags of federal funds over their heads, demanding in exchange North Carolina bow to the madness of obliterating male and female distinctives – something foundational to every society in human history.

“The battle over North Carolina’s common sense law, HB 2, has national significance. Must every state, more specifically, 28 other states, with laws similar to our own be forced to sacrifice their fundamental right to privacy and safety when using a restroom, locker room, or shower? That is the question of the hour.

“If this doesn’t make people righteously indignant, then our culture has lost any capacity for real moral outrage. We deserve exactly what we’ll get – confusion and chaos. Either truth is something evidential and verifiable or it’s purely subjective and determined wholly in the eye of the beholder.

“It is imperative the Governor and state lawmakers remain strong and fight the advancement of this misguided agenda. No federal law, approved by the people’s Representatives in Congress requires North Carolina comply with the Obama Administration’s demands.”

-Dr. Mark Creech

Well, male and female ‘distinctives’ are certainly foundational when it comes to misogyny, patriarchy, and every day sexism. They certainly do provide a framework for intolerance and remaining close-minded. All of which are great reasons to obliterate them. (As if it were possible to obliterate them. Christians do love being melodramatic.)

Full Story Here.

UPDATE:

(CNN)- North Carolina will meet a Monday deadline to respond to the U.S. Justice Department about the state’s transgender bathroom law, Gov. Pat McCrory said Thursday.

“We’re reviewing (the Justice Department letter) and we hope to have a response in the very near future.” he said, according to CNN affiliate WNCN.

When asked if the state will respond before Monday’s deadline set by the Justice Department, McCrory answered in the affirmative.

“Definitely,” he said. “We’ll have a response by Monday.”

CNN Story.

Pat Blames PC Culture for HB 2 Hate

Pat McCrory

Pat McCrory

With House Bill 2 under intense scrutiny, the signer of the controversial transphobic bill — North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory — lashed out at his critics and voiced concern he would lose his job. […] On the radio show, McCrory declined to take responsibility for the blowback and instead lamented his new pariah status.

“And now, sadly, in our nation if you have disagreement and you’re on the wrong side of that disagreement, according to the thought police, you’re dispensed of. You’re exiled,” he said. “I’ve even had some people call me, ‘Please don’t, governor, don’t show up to this event because I have people who disagree with you and we don’t want it.'”

[…]

“Society is changing quickly, and anybody who gets in the way is in trouble,” McCrory said on The Big Show. “And I might be in trouble. I might be looking for a side job over here.”

McCrory denied Cooper’s charge that HB 2 has embarrassed North Carolina, which has been hemorrhaging millions thanks to events and entertainers pulling out of the state.

“We haven’t embarrassed North Carolina by talking about something logically,” he said. “It’s logic but it’s not politically correct, apparently.”

The governor also contended that Bruce Springsteen, one of the performers boycotting the Tar Heel State, canceled his Greensboro performance because he couldn’t sell tickets. According to the Greensboro Coliseum, the show had sold 15,000 tickets and was about 100 tickets away from being sold out. McCrory also took umbrage with Fox News and Meet the Press, saying they presented him in a bad light when he was defending HB 2.

Full Story Here.

Peeing at Target: Go to Jail!

The Target store in Oxford, Alabama.

The Target store in Oxford, Alabama.

This Alabama City Will Now Put Transgender People In Jail For Peeing At Target.

On Tuesday night, the City Council of Oxford, Alabama unanimously approved a new ordinance that will punish individuals for using restrooms that do not match their biological sex as stated on their birth certificate. The policy is a direct response to Target indicating that trans people are welcome and will be respected in their stores.

According to the text of the ordinance, “citizens have a right to quite [sic] solicitude [sic] and to be secure from embarrassment and unwanted intrusion into their privacy while utilizing multiple occupancy bathroom or changing facilities by members of the opposite biological sex.”

Again, how are they going to know? Does everyone have to expose themselves before they are allowed into a lav? If a muscle-y bearded guy goes into the men’s lav, who is going to be having the panic attack and report him for peeing unlawfully? If a woman is in the women’s lav, well…what’s going to happen?

It also warns that “single sex public facilities are places of increased venerability [sic] and present the potential for crimes against individuals utilizing those facilities which may include, but not limited to, voyeurism, exhibitionism, molestation, and assault and battery.”

Anywhere within the city’s police jurisdiction, it is now a criminal offense for transgender people to use restrooms that match their gender identity unless they have undergone surgery and successfully changed the gender marker on their birth certificate.

Each individual violation will result in a $500 fine or up to six months in jail. CNN reported this week that “most people urinate four to seven times during a day.”

[…]

In a prepared statement after the ordinance’s passage, Council President Steven Waits said that the council passed it “not out of concerns for the 0.3 percent of the population who identify as transgender,” but “to protect our women and children,” according to the Anniston Star. Apparently many residents had complained about Target’s policy statement about transgender inclusion.

Yes, you just want to protect your [white] women and [white] children from the new bogeyman, because what would you do without one? I note that trans women and trans* children are not included under this so-called protection.

Zack Ford has the Story.

In other news, that dyed-in-the-wool idiot McCrory now claims that LGBT Backlash Is Plot to Remove Him From Office.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory believes the backlash to House Bill 2, the controversial legislation that forces trans people to use public restrooms that do not correspond with their gender identity, is a plot to remove him from office.

In an interview published Monday, McCrory called out the Human Rights Campaign and state Democrats, who he argues are using the bill to push him out. “You’ve got to be politically naïve if you think this is not coordinated by a very effective — a very effective — group,” McCrory told The New York Times.

Full Story Here.

Bonus video:

Youtube link.

LGBT Roundup

A lot of news today.

Survivor Contestant Places Rainbow-Painted Outhouse Atop North Carolina’s Tallest Mountain:

Neal Gottlieb's Facebook

Neal Gottlieb’s Facebook

“Yes, at least for a little while, North Carolina’s highest point is an outhouse; a fitting symbol for a state that has sullied itself with shitty, repressive legislation,” Neal Gottlieb pens in a letter to the Governor of North Carolina.

…Protesting North Carolina’s anti-trans “bathroom bill”, HB2, Neil Gottlieb placed a rainbow outhouse on the summit of Mount Mitchell, the state’s tallest mountain. Gottlieb, a contestant on this season’s Survivor: Kaoh Rong, shared the photos and a letter penned to NC Governor Pat McCrory.

On Facebook Gottlieb wrote,  “I proudly placed a rainbow-painted outhouse displaying a trans pride flag at the summit of North Carolina’s tallest mountain this morning in protest of the state’s repressive HB2 legislation. It was a brilliant site. The follow letter was nailed to the front of the outhouse and calls out the governor for the crap has become known as the ‘bathroom bill.'”

Gottlieb then posted his letter:

Read More Here.

Target Defies North Carolina Bathroom Law:

The company says it will welcome trans people to use the bathrooms and fitting rooms that correspond with their gender identity.

The company says it will welcome trans people to use the bathrooms and fitting rooms that correspond with their gender identity.

Target is taking a stand against North Carolina’s transphobic bathroom bill, saying its customers and employees can use the bathroom that matches their gender identity.

The company announced the policy on its corporate website today, saying, “Inclusivity is a core belief at Target. It’s something we celebrate.”

The department store chain even proclaimed its support for the Equality Act that is proposed in Congress.

“We believe that everyone — every team member, every guest, and every community —deserves to be protected from discrimination, and treated equally,” the company said in its statement. “Consistent with this belief, Target supports the federal Equality Act, which provides protections to LGBT individuals, and opposes action that enables discrimination.”

Full Story Here.

[Read more…]

LGBT Roundup

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Tennessee’s anti-transgender “bathroom bill” has gone down the drain again — and it will apparently stay there for at least a year.

In March, a legislative committee had delayed action on the bill by sending it to a summer study session, but the committee, under pressure from the far-right Family Action Council of Tennessee, revived it in early April. Today, though, its sponsor in the House of Representatives, Susan Lynn, said she would withdraw the bill until next year, reports Nashville paper The Tennessean. Full Story Here.

"We must take a stand against prejudice," says a statement on the band's website.

“We must take a stand against prejudice,” says a statement on the band’s website.

The members of Pearl Jam say North Carolina would be a better place without its new anti-LGBT law, so they’re canceling this week’s concert there and asking fans to support a repeal of the measure.

“It is with deep consideration and much regret that we must cancel the Raleigh show in North Carolina on April 20th,” says a statement posted by the band on its website Monday. Full Story Here.

The iconic classic rock band announced today that it is refusing to play any shows in North Carolina in protest of an anti-LGBT law.

The iconic classic rock band announced today that it is refusing to play any shows in North Carolina in protest of an anti-LGBT law.

Boston, known for classic ’70s hits such as “More Than a Feeling,” has canceled three shows scheduled for May in North Carolina in protest of House Bill 2.

Tom Scholz, the founder of Boston, apologized to fans who bought tickets in a statement posted on Facebook. “The removal of the shows from our schedule is a major disappointment. It has always been my wish to inspire people with BOSTON’s music,” Scholz wrote.  Full Story Here.

Skye Thomson was supposed to meet with Pat McCrory before he signed House Bill 2. The confab never took place, but the trans ninth-grader still has something to say to the governor.

Skye Thomson was supposed to meet with Pat McCrory before he signed House Bill 2. The confab never took place, but the trans ninth-grader still has something to say to the governor.

While Thomson, a trans boy attending high school in eastern North Carolina, spoke to two of McCrory’s staff members, a promised meeting with the governor never took place.

In light of HB 2’s passage, Thomson wrote an open letter to the governor, pleading with him to actually sit down and meet with him and other trans youth. Read the message below, via the National Center for Transgender Equality.

Dear Governor McCrory:

My name is Skye Thomson. I am 15 years old, I live in Eastern North Carolina, and I am a transgender boy. That means I was born a female and identify as a male.

I was in Raleigh for the debate on House Bill 2 on March 23. I was the only transgender student who got a chance to speak out against HB2, the so called “bathroom bill” that is supposed to keep everyone safe in bathrooms. But it doesn’t keep everyone safe, especially people like me. Imagine yourself in my shoes, being a boy walking into a ladies room. It’s awkward and embarrassing and can actually be dangerous. By putting this law in place you’re putting kids like me in danger.

Read the rest here.

Los Angeles Bans Official Travel to North Carolina, Mississippi.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti

“With one stroke of their pen, Gov. Pat McCrory and Gov. Phil Bryant have jeopardized the safety and dignity of countless transgender, gay and lesbian people — who are already at an increased risk for violent crime,” Garcetti continued, referring to the governors of North Carolina and Mississippi, respectively. “As someone who has fought for many years on behalf of LGBT Americans and their right to equal protection under the law, I will continue to do everything in my power to keep L.A.’s tax dollars from supporting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”

“State-sanctioned discrimination only perpetuates intolerance, hatred and violence,” said Councilmember Mike Bonin, who authored the resolution, in the same press release. “That is not at all what Los Angeles stands for, and today, we are sending a clear message that we will not endorse — with our dollars or our participation — discrimination toward our transgender, gay, lesbian, and bisexual sisters and brothers.”

Bloody well took them long enough. At least they have finally joined the sane faction in this toilet fight. Full Story Here.