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| North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory |
PayPal announced Tuesday morning that it has abandoned its plans for a massive global operations center, which would have brought 400 new jobs to Charlotte, North Carolina. The company was unequivocal that the decision was made because of the state’s passage of HB2, a sweeping law that blocks cities from enacting LGBT nondiscrimination protections and mandates that transgender people use the wrong bathrooms for their gender identities.
CEO Dan Schulman explained in a statement that “the new law perpetuates discrimination and it violates the values and principles that are at the core of PayPal’s mission and culture.”
Schulman asserted that the decision to not proceed with the Charlotte center “is a clear and unambigous one” that reflects the company’s “deepest values and our strong belief that every person has the right to be treated equally, and with dignity and respect.” Because PayPal’s employees would not have equal rights under North Carolina law, employing them there is “simply untenable.”
Pay Pal is not alone in rethinking plans to do business in the hostile environment of North Carolina.
Courtesy of USA News:
New Jersey-based Braeburn Pharmaceuticals said it is "reevaluating our options based on the recent, unjust legislation" whether to build a $20 million manufacturing and research facility in Durham County. The 50 new jobs paying an average of nearly $76,000 a year were announced two weeks ago.
Lionsgate, the California-based entertainment company, had been lining up hotel and equipment rentals and hiring more than 100 workers in North Carolina, but decided to shoot its pilot episode for a comedy series in Canada instead, said Jennifer Irvine, a Charlotte production coordinator.
Charlotte convention officials and the organizers of one of the world's largest furniture markets say some customers have pulled out, also citing the new law.
One would think that this kind of potential economic impact would have other states thinking twice about passing their own laws discriminating against the LGBT community.
But thinking twice, or even once for that matter, has no place when your religion urges you to hate.
Courtesy of the LA Times:
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed a controversial bill into law on Tuesday that could allow businesses and government workers to deny services to lesbian and gay couples.
Bryant said in a statement that he was signing HB 1523 “to protect sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions of individuals, organizations and private associations from discriminatory action by state government or its political subdivisions.”
Somehow I think that this will inspire a whole lot of anti-discrimination cases which will eventually find their way to the Supreme Court.
Which means that we really need to get Antonin Scalia's replacement seated just as soon as possible.
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