Libertarian Senate candidate on House Bill 2: ‘Just shoot me now’

Sean Haugh, a Libertarian running for U.S. Senate, says the debate over House Bill 2 shows that “maybe all government has just completely outlived its usefulness.”

Haugh is a Durham pizza delivery driver who’s running against Democrat Deborah Ross and incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr. He offered his take on the controversial LGBT law in one of his signature YouTube videos, in which he addresses voters while sipping a pint of craft beer.

“You know, except for some of my fellow gentlemen maybe practicing a little better aim, we didn’t have much problem knowing how to go to the bathroom until politicians decided we had to pass laws about it,” Haugh says in the video. “Oh my word, just shoot me now.”

The Libertarian says the problem started with the Charlotte City Council, which decided transgender people needed “special permission” to use the bathroom.

“The Republicans currently running state government decided ‘no, if we demonize all the transgender people and don’t let them go to the bathroom anywhere, maybe we can get reelected,’” Haugh said. “And now President Obama has come in with his magic wand and issued an edict granting students, at least, the right to go to the bathroom again. The rest of us will just have to go behind the dumpster out back or something.”

Haugh concludes with a unique take on the standard campaign ad “I approve this message” sign-off: “I’m Sean Haugh, and I’ll put the seat back down for you.”

While House Bill 2 was passed by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Pat McCrory, it has become an issue for the major parties’ candidates for U.S. Senate.

Burr has largely been reluctant to talk about HB2, at one point saying he couldn’t comment because the law is the subject of litigation between state leaders and the U.S. Department of Justice.

“It’s not a federal issue, and when the decision was made to put it in the court system, the Senate has ethics rules about us getting involved with any judicial process,” Burr told Asheville TV station WLOS this week. “It’s still my hope that the City of Charlotte and the North Carolina General Assembly can get together and find a reasonable way to resolve this issue, but if they can’t, it’s going to be resolved by the court system.”

Ross, the Democratic Party’s nominee for Senate, has been a vocal opponent of HB2 and has called on Burr to be more active on the issue.

“Instead of working with his fellow Republicans to undo the damage, he refuses to show any kind of leadership,” Ross spokesman Cole Leiter said recently.

This story was originally published May 19, 2016 at 4:02 PM with the headline "Libertarian Senate candidate on House Bill 2: ‘Just shoot me now’."