new moon resistance

Yesterday’s HKonJ Moral March on Raleigh drew tens of thousands protesting HB2 and reckless governance at both our state and national levels, emphasizing citizens’ moral duty to stand against immoral and unconstitutional actions.  This is the 11th year of the annual march, coordinated by our state’s NAACP.

What’s at stake in our state?

The infamous HB2 is widely known as ‘the bathroom bill’ across the country.  (It was, after all, given the pithy title: An Act To Provide For Single-Sex Multiple Occupancy Bathroom And Changing Facilities In Schools And Public Agencies And To Create Statewide Consistency In Regulation Of Employment And Public Accommodations.)

Careful observers realize there is more in this bill than stall selection mandates.  Specifically, in addition to setting out new policy, the bill codifies a ban against any discrimination suit being brought in North Carolina state courts: “The Human Relations Commission in the Department of Administration shall have the authority to receive, investigate, and conciliate complaints of discrimination in public accommodations… This Article does not create, and shall not be construed to create or support, a statutory or common law private right of action, and no person may bring any civil action based upon the public policy expressed herein“ (emphasis added).

The law excludes sexual orientation from its list of population categories protected from discrimination, AND declares that its articles “supersede and preempt any ordinance, regulation, resolution, or policy adopted or imposed by a unit of local government or other political subdivision of the State that regulates or imposes any requirement,” in other words only the state decides who gets protection and no county, town, or city, may now expand civil rights to the LGBTQ community.

HB2 follows an ironic pattern from our Republican lawmakers who resent being ‘told by Washington’ what states can and cannot do, then become proscriptive in Raleigh and tell municipalities and counties what they can and cannot do.  To wit, no county, town, or city may deviate from Raleigh’s official position on the minimum wage; the “Wage and Hour Act” article within HB2 relies on the “police power of the State” to supersede “any ordinance, regulation, resolution, or policy adopted or imposed by a unit of local government or other political subdivision of the State” when it comes to regulating “the wage levels of employees, hours of labor, payment of earned wages, benefits, leave, or well-being of minors in the workforce.”  Imagine the reaction of these  alleged small government advocates if such a directive came from the federal level to the states.  When it comes to government mandates, what is sauce for the goose is apparently not sauce for the gander, in their lawmaking perceptions.

Economic costs to our state have been well-documented, as employers and institutions, from the ACC and NCAA to PayPal and many more, are choosing to locate in states less enthusiastic about blatant discrimination based on sexual orientation.  Republicans in Raleigh declined their opportunity to repeal this punishing bill, even when Charlotte rolled over and repealed their local attempt to vanquish sexual orientation discrimination.  Charlotte’s anti-discrimination ordinance extending civil rights to the LGBTQ community was the alleged trigger of an emergency special session in which HB2 was hastily constructed in the first place.  Republicans responded to Charlotte’s repeal with an HB2 repeal bill that included a renewable 6-month moratorium against local non-discrimination ordinances, instead of a clean repeal.  The moratorium killed the repeal bill in Raleigh.  Politics over principle.

Yesterday was also the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a potent reminder of why we all need to eradicate discrimination, in both investment and in access to educational, professional, and social opportunities.  Celebrating the heroines of “Hidden Figures” and other marginalized female contributors to science should inspire us to expand opportunity, support mentoring, and institutionalize equity.

NC Statewide 2016 Presidential results:

NC Statewide 2016 Senate results:

Ross voters: 2,128,165 (45.37%)
Burr voters: 2,395,376 (51.06%)

‘Other’ voters: 176,592 (3.57%)

According to analysis of 2012-2016 voter trends in North Carolina by Civitas: