It seems that the U.S. can’t go a day without being an international embarrassment. On this week’s episode of “Which state is the most bigoted?” we take a look at North Carolina.
According to ABC News, Gov. Pat McCrory passed House Bill 2, otherwise known as the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, which prevents local municipalities from making rules that prohibit discrimination in public spaces based on sexual orientation and gender identity. And, not only does this law strip LGBT people of any protection from discrimination, but it also mandates that all public schools, government agencies and public college campuses require that occupants use multiple-occupancy bathrooms and changing facilities based on the biological sex on their birth certificates.
Imagine a gender non-conforming individual thinking, probably sarcastically, “Let me carry around my birth certificate so I can do this thing that all humans and most other creatures have to do to survive, just because the government thinks my sexuality or gender identity has anything to do with my need to use the restroom.”
Ever heard of Jim Crow laws, segregation, “whites only” signs, divisions based on skin color, things one would think this country would have outgrown? This comparison isn’t even that far off, numbers aside; while the ‘60s saw some of the most violently discriminatory crimes against blacks, including bombings, church burnings and murder, MSNBC reported that, in 2015, more transgender people were killed — 21 — in the U.S. than in any other year. The U.S. claims to be the best country in the world, but it can’t seem to shake the need to categorize humans and demean them based on their differences. No matter how you look at it, this law is a form of state-sanctioned discrimination.
While North Carolina does have a blanket nondiscrimination law, it does not have protections specifically for LGBT people, according to ABC News, and it also undid the protections they did have. This means that North Carolina has put its stamp of approval on intolerance and prejudice because God forbid a person needs to use a restroom in which he or she is most comfortable.
The rationale behind this type of law is hard to comprehend. One might make the argument that, under a more progressive and tolerant law, “creeps” would use the ladies’ room to sneak a peek, saying they identify as female, or vice versa. It seems almost unfathomable that someone would actually use this reasoning, but, then again, it seems that most Republicans make it a point of duty to support anything that defies rational and moral sense.
According to ABC News, Republican lawmakers were aiming to nullify an ordinance in Charlotte, North Carolina, that would have gone into effect on April 1. The ordinance would have prohibited discrimination in housing and public accommodations based on gender identity or sexual orientation. Enter John Rustin, president of the North Carolina Family Policy Council. Rustin testified before the Senate, saying the ordinance “means men could enter women’s restrooms and locker rooms — placing the privacy, safety and dignity of women and the elderly at great risk.” Unsurprisingly, Gov. McCrory agreed and signed House Bill 2 into law.
Unless a state plans on using its constituents’ tax dollars to fund a neat little bathroom police squad, a law isn’t going to prevent a pervert from being a pervert. Rules were meant to be broken, no? It seems highly unlikely that a sex offender would go through the trouble of pretending to be transgender to get into the ladies’ room, and Mic, an online news source, even reported that there have been no reported cases of such a scenario.
This argument also seems to insinuate that transgender people are predators in disguise, perpetuating a fear-based prejudice that is completely unfounded. Rather than working to erase prejudice, North Carolina seems hell-bent on stoking its flames.
North Carolina isn’t the only state at fault; according to Mic, Arizona, Texas, Kentucky and Florida have also pushed for “bathroom bills” that would prevent transgender people from using bathrooms according to their sexual identity.
Not only that, but huge companies like the NFL, Coca-Cola, Home Depot and Delta Airlines staunchly oppose a Georgia bill, HN 757, that Gov. Nathan Deal may sign in to law, according to The Los Angeles Times. The law will allow clergymen the right to refuse to officiate same-sex marriages, give faith-based organizations the right to hire and fire people who violate their religious beliefs, and make it illegal to force an individual to attend a gay wedding, according to The Daily Beast. Walt Disney Co. even threatened to boycott the state if the governor passes the law.
It really is a close race to see which state is the most prejudiced, backward, close-minded and blatantly disrespectful of human rights and bodily autonomy. But North Carolina is in the lead, tipping the first domino in a chain of what may very likely be a series of steps backward for the U.S.
