by Rob Schofield
But
there’s also just a real question out there of whether or not it’s
appropriate for men to share restrooms and shower facilities with
women.”
Of course, Berger is not the only public figure to promote this lie. Here’s House Speaker Tim Moore last week in
an interview with Raleigh’s News & Observer
If
there’s any entity out there that’s going to tell North Carolina that
we have to let men in women’s showers, that’s just too bad, we’re not
going to change that,” he said.
The
compassionate 'christians' at the North Carolina Values Coalition and
North Carolina Family Policy Council (which deny even existence of
transgender people) are also only too happy to communicate this tale to
their misguided followers. The misnamed Values Coalition has gone so far
as to promote an ad
featuring the photo of a young girl with a backpack walking into a dark
and dangerous looking bathroom facility with the title “Don’t cave to
political correctness.”
Meanwhile, this is from
an article
describing the reaction of a North Carolina Family Policy Council
spokesperson to proposed HB2 repeal legislation in the General Assembly
last December:
But
NC Family Policy Council President John Rustin said that repeal would
‘represent a significant betrayal of the citizens of North Carolina who
deeply care about the privacy and safety of women and children in our
state.’”
And
then there’s commentator Dan Way of the “libertarian” John Locke
Foundation. Way has repeatedly tweeted over the past several months
about the supposed intent of equality supporters. Here he was just last
week
criticizing UNC basketball coach Roy Williams’ opposition to the law:
Roy Williams: Basketball home court advantage tops keeping men out of girls showers (sic)
At
times, it’s been hard to decide what’s more maddening: the dishonesty
of the accusation or the way supposedly serious journalists have
continued to blithely report it.
The truth finally comes out
Happily,
there has been a major breakthrough on this front in recent days. After
hiding behind the “men in women’s bathrooms” excuse for 12 long months,
wingnut legislative leaders have finally come clean and admitted
what they are really after. The admission comes as a result of the
determined and relentless advocacy and negotiating efforts of Governor
Cooper and his team, who have gradually worked Berger and Moore into a
corner of the political chess board.
As
it turns out, what Berger, Moore and crew really want is not “bathroom
safety” but a guarantee that no North Carolina governing body – state or
local – will pass a law barring discrimination against LGBTQ North
Carolinians.
This from
an article last Thursday on WRAL.com in which Speaker Moore held forth on his latest discussions with Berger:
While
lawmakers search for something that is more palatable to the business
community, Moore pledged that the final product would still restrict the
use of restrooms by transgender people
and
would still block local governments from passing any nondiscrimination
ordinances that go beyond federal law, meaning they wouldn’t include
protections for the LGBT community. (Emphasis supplied.)
He
said his ultimate goal is to align North Carolina’s laws with those of
neighboring states while still keeping requirements that men and women
use the bathroom and locker room corresponding to their gender on the
books.
I think a lot of people don’t want North Carolina being the poster child on some of these social issues either way,’ he said.”
Did
you catch that part about not going beyond federal law? What Moore is
saying there is that he and Berger will not agree to allow a scenario in
which any North Carolina locality – even a progressive city like
Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Asheville, Raleigh or Charlotte in which the
citizenry wants it – can pass a rule or ordinance that forbids
discrimination against LGBT people.
In other words, Berger and Moore want businesses to remain free to fire people because they are gay.
This
is because, while federal law bests state law in many areas and will
probably (hopefully) be interpreted at some point down the road to bar
discrimination against people because of sexual orientation and/or
gender identity, it doesn’t do so yet. Right now, according to the
latest court interpretations of federal law and U.S. Constitution, LGBTQ
Americans have marriage equality, but they can also be fired or denied
service in a restaurant because of who they are. Unlike people of color
who won legal (if not always real world) protection when it comes to
such basic civil rights a half-century ago, LGBTQ people remain utterly
unprotected. A lesbian in America is free to marry her partner in any
state in the union, but under federal law, it’s also okay for her boss
to fire her for doing so.
For
millions and millions of Americans, this lack of a federal protection
has been remedied to a great extent at the state and local level. Dozens
of states (including not-so-liberal bastions like Utah and Iowa) and
hundreds of municipalities like Columbia, South Carolina have passed
laws and ordinances barring such discrimination.
Unfortunately,
for vast swaths of the country – North Carolina included – there are no
such protections. A year ago, the city of Charlotte was beginning to
change this situation and helping to drag our state into the 21st
Century, but HB2 stopped this effort in its tracks and Moore and
Berger’s latest proposal would only double down on this regressive
situation.
So, what should Cooper do?
The
new Berger/Moore tack – to propose a “repeal” of HB2 that prevents any
new nondiscrimination ordinances “that go further than federal law” and
that perhaps guarantees the “religious freedom” of business owners who
want to discriminate – is designed, of course, to put Governor Cooper in
a bind. The objective is to produce a bill that sounds moderate and
reasonable but that will, in fact, do nothing to really change the
current situation. Their hope is that they can advance the bill and
force Cooper into the awkward position of having to oppose (and maybe
even veto) it, all while locking North Carolina in as a state in which
LGBTQ equality remains beyond reach.
And,
truth be told, from a purely cynical and Machiavellian point of view,
it’s not a bad strategy. The public, as well as the business community,
are clearly tired of hearing about HB2. Many people long for a solution –
any solution – that will bring back their concerts and big games and
remove the stain from the state’s “brand.” There probably isn’t a day
that goes by in which Cooper isn’t reminded by some powerful corporate
entity of the need to get
something done on this front. As
the Associated Press reported yesterday, the economic costs to the state are now expected to approach $4 billion over the next several years.
Happily,
however, Cooper has thus far shown himself to be made of much sterner
stuff than Berger, Moore and company undoubtedly wish was the case.
While it would be understandable if he sometimes feels a desire to
simply cut and run, he thus far gives no indication of backing down from
his repeatedly stated objective of passing a genuine repeal that in no
way give license to discrimination.
Given
that Berger and Moore have finally uncloseted themselves and owned up
to their true objectives, the Governor’s only option at this point is to
stick to his principles. What’s more, one senses that if he takes his
case to the people and makes plain why he can’t support any plan that
endorses firing people because they are gay, North Carolinians will
understand and agree.
****11
I've
been showing you all kinds of succulents lately, to get you in the mood
for spring and inspire you to get out and garden, but those lists were
missing the adorable succulent driving Japanese gardeners wild.
Native
to South Africa, Monilaria obconica use the small, glittering pearls on
their leaves to store water, so they're fairly drought resistant, and
the leaf pair "ears" act "as a protective sheath to the stem apex".
But enough of the scientific talk, wanna know the best thing about these bunny succulents?
