The Governor of North Carolina has signed an executive order amending parts of the states new anti-LGBTI law. Governor Pat McCroy has announced that the provision still means people have to use the bathroom that matches the gender stated on their birth certificate at schools and government buildings but, when possible it “encourages reasonable accommodations for families and those who have unique or special circumstances.” Private businesses are able to decide their “own policy with regard to restrooms, locker rooms and/or shower facilities.” “After listening to people’s feedback for the past several weeks on this issue, I have come to the conclusion that there is a great deal of misinformation, misinterpretation, confusion, a lot of passion and frankly, selective outrage and hypocrisy, especially against the great state of North Carolina,” he says. The executive order has not slowed down the backlash against the anti-LGBTI legislation, Sarah Preston, the acting director of the The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, said in a statement, “Governor McCrory’s actions today are a poor effort to save face after his sweeping attacks on the LGBT community, and they fall far short of correcting the damage done when he signed the harmful House Bill 2 into law which stigmatises and mandates discrimination against gay and transgender people. “With this executive order, LGBT individuals still lack legal protections from discrimination, and transgender people are still explicitly targeted by being forced to use the wrong restroom.” The state is facing a huge backlash from all sectors, with businesses such as Paypal and Deutsche Bank cancelling massive expansions to North Carolina, costing hundreds of jobs. Musicians such as Bruce Springsteen have canceled shows in the state and mega porn site xHamster has blocked anyone in North Carolina from accessing the site and says this year 319,907 views of the ‘gay’ category have come from the state.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 13th April 2016 - 11:47am