North Carolina protests against HB2

[ckaihatsu]

North Carolina protests against HB2



By Charla Schlueter

Asheville NC -Dozens of people came out to protest Governor Pat McCory’s bigotry law HB2, May 14. They gathered at Memorial Stadium and marched to a Town Mountain Mansion where McCory meets for an annual open house in Asheville.

“HB2 is one of the most asinine laws we have seen in this country since the Jim Crow,” remarked community activist Tiffany Wilkins. Not only does it criminalize trans people who use the restroom of their gender, it also broadly forbids any discrimination claims to be made at the state level and puts a cap on minimum wage at the state’s unlivable $7.25 per hour.

Over 50 people gathered outside of the mansion carrying signs and chanting things such as, “No hate in our state!” and “When civil rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back!”

Meanwhile a dozen more protesters went inside to confront McCory and the local county commissioners about the hate law, many wearing shirts saying “This is what trans look like.” Gabe, a local transgendered high schooler at Asheville High came personally to tell McCory how sacred he is and hard it is for him being forced legally to use the woman’s restroom.

McCory quickly left, leaving his Republican county commissioner to take the heat about the oppressive law. Mike Fryar, a Buncombe County commissioner “assured” protesters he understood their outrage, because he too experienced oppression from being bald. When an activist from the crowd challenged him that he would never be asked to not eat in a restaurant or refused service for his baldness he responded, “I think that if we just stop talking about the issue people won’t find it one.”

An activist from Black Lives Matter said to this, “You are asking me not to take part in the democratic process of the Untied States and to just be silent?”

But if Pat McCory thinks he can silence the people he has another thing coming. Citizens are outraged. “In one fell swoop they back tracked us 40 years of progress,” local teacher Melissa Buchanan said. But people are not just sitting back watching. Protests with hundreds of participants have spread like wildfire across North Carolina, from the Raleigh, to Charlotte, and even little towns like Hendersonville, people are standing up for civil rights saying, ‘This is not us!’”

Governor Pat McCory and his republican henchmen shoved HB2 down the throats of the people of North Carolina. Hundreds of protesters have been arrested. Most recently over 50 were arrested staging sit-ins at Raleigh’s capitol building and for refusing to leave House Speaker Tim Moore’s office.

This bill criminalizes and further marginalizes the trans community, it take away what fragile protection they had previously under the law. The Federal Department of Justice has declared that HB2 violates the Civil Rights Act and has given the North Carolina state government an ultimatum: change course or lose federal funding to the state’s public institutions.

We need to keep organizing and fight for equality. It was not about water fountains then and it is not about bathrooms now.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

Call the NCAA: Don’t let North Carolina fool you


CREDO action


Call now: Tell the NCAA to stay out of North Carolina

North Carolina lawmakers just played the NCAA. They passed off discriminatory H.B. 142 as a repeal of the anti-LGBTQ bathroom bill, H.B. 2, and the NCAA fell for it. Call the NCAA today to tell them to reconsider their terrible decision to return championship games to North Carolina.

Click below for a sample script and the number to call:

Take action now ►


Dear Chris,



North Carolina lawmakers just played the NCAA.

Last week, in a desperate attempt to meet an NCAA deadline to repeal the state’s anti-LGBTQ H.B. 2 or lose the chance to host NCAA games through 2022, the legislature passed H.B. 142.1

The new legislation is no repeal, and it’s just as discriminatory against LGBTQ people as before. But somehow the NCAA is going to give extremist anti-LGBTQ North Carolina lawmakers a pass. It has “reluctantly” decided to allow North Carolina to host events again. It’s an appalling decision that doesn’t just threaten LGBTQ students, athletes and communities in North Carolina. It will also embolden bigoted legislators in states across the country to pass similar discriminatory anti-LGBTQ laws.

It’s not too late for the NCAA to do the right thing, but it will only act if we overwhelm the organization with pressure now. Will you make a call today?

Call the NCAA and tell them to keep events out of North Carolina until H.B. 2 is truly repealed and the state is safe for everyone. Click here to get started with your call.

North Carolina has been bleeding money for over a year. H.B. 2 prompted a parade of corporations and institutions to leave North Carolina and take their money with them. It has likely cost the state at least $3.7 billion dollars.2 The NCAA was one of the most influential players, pulling its games from North Carolina with a pledge not to return until the hateful bathroom bill was repealed. Its decision this week undermines its power to help push for LGBTQ equality in North Carolina and across the country.

H.B. 142 does repeal the “bathroom bill” aspect of H.B. 2, but then it doubles down on discrimination and leaves LGBTQ people unprotected. It forbids cities, public schools and municipalities from passing proactive protections for LGBTQ people, which means that no city or public school can guarantee LGBTQ people dignity and safety under the law.3 In the majority of states in the country, people can be fired from their jobs, evicted from their apartments or denied services because of their sexual orientation or gender identity and presentation. Taking away the ability of local communities and municipalities to protect their LGBTQ community members is unacceptable.

In a recent statement, the NCAA said that it moved its championships out of North Carolina “because of the cumulative impact H.B. 2 had on local communities’ ability to ensure a safe, healthy, discrimination-free atmosphere for all those watching and participating in our events.”4H.B. 142 specifically removes local communities' abilities to ensure a safe and discrimination-free atmosphere for LGBTQ people. This is unacceptable, and the NCAA should not have fallen for this new discriminatory legislation North Carolina lawmakers masqueraded as a compromise.

Call the NCAA and tell its leaders to reverse their horrible decision to reward extremists in North Carolina for their LGBTQ bigotry. Click the link below to get started with your call.[/url]

https://act.credoaction.com/call/NCA....247355.bgjph7

Thank you for standing up to bigotry,

Tessa Levine, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

Click below for a sample script and the number to call:

Take action now ►


References:
1. Zach Ford, “North Carolina attempts bait-and-switch with NCAA, pushes new anti-LGBT bill,” ThinkProgress, March 30, 2017.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Scott Fowler, “NCAA’s message to North Carolina on HB2 ‘repeal’ should be clear, too: Pound sand,” The Charlotte Observer, March 30, 2017.


© 2017 CREDO. All rights reserved.

This email was sent to [email protected].

To change your email or mailing address, please click here:

To unsubscribe, please visit our subscription management page at:

[ckaihatsu]

Call now: Tell the NCAA to stand against bigotry and discrimination in Texas


CREDO action


Call Now: The NCAA and Texas’s discriminatory anti-LGBT laws

The NCAA should be standing up for LGBTQ equality. But it has not yet condemned anti-LGBTQ legislation in Texas and just turned its back on LGBTQ people in North Carolina. We’re turning up the pressure on NCAA president Mark Emmert to demand that the NCAA protect LGBTQ students from discrimination. Will you make a call?

Click below for a sample script and the number to call:

Take action now ►


Dear Chris,



The NCAA can help fight LGBTQ bigotry in Texas, and it needs to act now.

Nearly 110,000 CREDO activists have joined you in signing our petition to the NCAA asking it to take a public stand against discriminatory anti-LGBTQ laws moving through the Texas legislature.

Unfortunately, the NCAA just made an appalling decision that goes against every commitment it has made to defend LGBTQ people. On Tuesday North Carolina lawmakers fooled the NCAA into ending its boycott of the state over anti-LGBTQ bill H.B. 2. This decision doesn’t just threaten LGBTQ students, athletes and communities in North Carolina. It also sends a message to bigoted legislators in states like Texas that there will be no consequences for passing similar hateful anti-LGBTQ laws.

We have to make it clear that there is massive opposition to the NCAA’s decision to return to North Carolina and to demand it draw a line in the sand for Texas.

Will you call NCAA president Mark Emmert and tell him that the NCAA must stand up for LGBTQ people? Click here for a script and number to call.

Here’s what just happened in North Carolina: In a desperate attempt to meet an NCAA deadline to repeal the state’s anti-LGBTQ H.B. 2 or lose the chance to host NCAA games through 2022, the North Carolina legislature passed H.B. 142, claiming that it repealed H.B. 2.1 The new legislation is no repeal, and it’s just as discriminatory against LGBTQ people as before. And the NCAA fell for it. It has decided to allow North Carolina to host events again.

Here’s why it matters in Texas: Texas lawmakers have already introduced nine anti-LGBTQ bills this year, including an anti-transgender “bathroom bill,” which would make it illegal for transgender people to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity, and SB 651, one of the most extreme Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRA) ever considered by a state, which would legalize discrimination against LGBTQ people on the grounds of “religious freedom.”2

Passage of H.B. 2 has likely cost the North Carolina at least $3.7 billion dollars. Some projections estimate that Texas risks losing $8.5 billion if the state passes anti-LGBTQ legislation.3 The NCAA regularly holds games and championship events in Texas and was one of the most prominent and powerful forces pushing North Carolina to change. Its decision to cave in North Carolina undercuts its power and encourages other corporations and institutions to give anti-LGBTQ bigots a pass.

The NCAA needs to change course now. It should reverse its decision in North Carolina and take a proactive stand against Texas’ anti-LGBTQ bills. If it does that, it can show Texas what the state is risking when it attacks the LGBTQ community. If it refuses, it will be turning its back on its own stated values and the LGBTQ community. Can you help turn up the pressure today?

Will you call NCAA president Mark Emmert and tell him that the NCAA must stand up for LGBTQ people? Click the link below for a script and number to call.

Tessa Levine, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

Click below for a sample script and the number to call:

Take action now ►


References:
1. Zach Ford, "North Carolina attempts bait-and-switch with NCAA, pushes new anti-LGBT bill," ThinkProgress, March 30, 2017.
2. Nico Lang, “The new “license to discriminate” bill in Texas may be the most extreme anti-LGBT proposal yet,” Salon, Feb. 15, 2017.
3. Lauren McGaughy,”Texas could lose $8.5B if anti-gay or transgender bathroom laws are passed, study claims,” Dallas News, Dec. 6, 2016.


© 2017 CREDO. All rights reserved.

This email was sent to [email protected].

To change your email or mailing address, please click here:

To unsubscribe, please visit our subscription management page at:

[ckaihatsu]

Sign the petition: The Pac-12 Conference must take a stand against discrimination


CREDO action


No Pac-12 travel to North Carolina until the state is safe for LGBTQ people

The petition to Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott reads:

“Do not send student-athletes to states that are not safe for LGBTQ people. Suspend travel of all Pac-12 programs to North Carolina and any other state that passes hateful anti-LGBTQ legislation.”

Add your name:

Sign the petition ►



Resist Discrimination in North Carolina


Dear Chris,

The “Conference of Champions” has a chance to be a champion for LGBTQ rights.

When North Carolina first passed its anti-LGBTQ law H.B. 2, CREDO activists helped pressure the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to take a stand against bigotry and pull its games from the state. Recently the NCAA made an appalling decision that goes against every commitment it has made to defend LGBTQ people. It fell hook, line and sinker for North Carolina lawmakers’ fake, discriminatory HB 2 “repeal” and decided to bring its games back.

The Pac-12 – the premier athletic conference in the western United States – is one of the so-called “Power Five” conferences in the NCAA. Its own mission proclaims a “commitment to gender equity” and “the welfare of the student athlete.”1 It represents college athletes at 12 schools, including schools in California, Oregon and Washington - states that champion LGBTQ equality.

The Pac-12 Conference should not abide by the NCAA’s cowardly and politically craven decision to disregard discrimination against the LGBTQ community in North Carolina. It must suspend all travel of student-athletes to North Carolina and any other state that is not safe for LGBTQ people.

Tell Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott: Suspend travel of all Pac-12 programs to North Carolina until the hateful, anti-LGBTQ H.B. 2 is fully repealed and any state that isn’t safe for LGBTQ people. Click here to sign the petition.

Pac-12 schools participate in 22 NCAA Division I sports. But its athletes do not just play in western states. They play in tournaments across the country, including in states like North Carolina that discriminate against the LGBTQ community.

The Pac-12 should not be sending any student-athletes to North Carolina or any other state with hateful anti-LGBTQ laws. Every time Pac-12 schools agree to send student-athletes to North Carolina they are putting some of them at risk of facing anti-LGBTQ discrimination. That needs to stop – now.

Tell Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott: Suspend travel of all Pac-12 programs to North Carolina until the hateful, anti-LGBTQ legislation H.B. 2 is fully repealed, and to any state that isn’t safe for LGBTQ people. Click here to sign the petition.

The passage of H.B. 2 prompted a parade of corporations and institutions to leave North Carolina and take their money with them. It likely cost the state at least $3.7 billion.2 The NCAA was one of the most influential institutions to go and getting it back was a top priority.

In a desperate attempt to meet an NCAA deadline to repeal the state’s anti-LGBTQ H.B. 2 or lose the chance to host NCAA games through 2022, the North Carolina legislature passed H.B. 142, claiming that it repealed H.B. 2.3 The new legislation is no repeal – it’s just as discriminatory against LGBTQ people as before. And the NCAA fell for it.

That appalling decision doesn’t just threaten LGBTQ students, athletes and communities in North Carolina. It has also already emboldened bigoted legislators in states like Texas to push for similar discriminatory anti-LGBTQ laws.4

Now the Pac-12 conference has an opportunity to send a powerful message to North Carolina, the NCAA and lawmakers all over the country: Anti-LGBTQ legislation like H.B. 2 is unacceptable.

Tell Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott: Suspend travel of all Pac-12 programs to North Carolina until the hateful, anti-LGBTQ legislation H.B. 2 is fully repealed and any state that isn’t safe for LGBTQ people. Click the link below to sign the petition:

https://act.credoaction.com/sign/pac....247355.fYBss4

Thank you for standing against discrimination,

Tessa Levine, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

Add your name:

Sign the petition ►


References:

“2015-2016 Pac-12 Compliance Handbook,” accessed May 5, 2017.
Zach Ford, “North Carolina attempts bait-and-switch with NCAA, pushes new anti-LGBT bill,” ThinkProgress, March 30, 2017.
Ibid.
Nico Lang, “The new “license to discriminate” bill in Texas may be the most extreme anti-LGBT proposal yet,” Salon, Feb. 15, 2017.

FB Share on Facebook
Post to your wall
Tw Tweet this
Post to Twitter

© 2017 CREDO. All rights reserved.

This email was sent to [email protected].

To change your email or mailing address, please click here:

To unsubscribe, please visit our subscription management page at: