Since North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed a controversial new LGBT bill into law March 23, corporations, government officials, universities and prominent newsmakers have come out staunchly against the measure. And a number of groups and individuals, often conservative or religiously affiliated, have come out in favor.
The new law limits legal protections of LGBT individuals by setting a statewide definition of protected classes of citizens. The new law means schools and local governments cannot adopt more inclusive rules. Legislative leaders said they were responding to Charlotte’s expanded nondiscrimination ordinance that would have allowed transgender people to use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender with which they identify.
More than 100 top executives from major companies, including major Charlotte employers like Bank of America, have signed a letter opposing the “anti-LGBT” legislation. The NBA, set to host its All-Star Game in Charlotte next year, has also said it’s against measure. Some states and cities are banning government-funded travel to North Carolina.
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KeepNCSafe says over 300 businesses have signed a letter supporting the measure, though it has released publicly the names of only 38. Some business owners declined to give their names because of “vocal threats and bullying from the LGBT community,” the organization said.
The N.C. Sheriffs’ Association announced Friday that it has encouraged the legislature to overturn local ordinances that “allow persons of one gender to use the restroom of the other gender.” Sheriffs had expressed “concerns for public safety,” executive vice president Eddie Caldwell said, but the group hasn’t taken a position on other provisions in the LGBT law.
Below is a working list of those who have spoken against and those in favor of the LGBT measure. Others, including McCrory’s former employer, Duke Energy, and his alma mater, Catawba College, haven’t directly opposed new measure but instead emphasize their own nondiscrimination policies. The (Raleigh) News & Observer contributed.
Against HB2: Lionsgate A+E network Fox PepsiCo Hyatt Ingersoll-Rand The Dow Chemical Company Hewlett Packard Enterprise Smiles by Payet Family Dentistry Northrop Grumman Barnes and Noble Sivan Capri Agency Ralph Lauren American Apparel Qualcomm Twilio Udacity Albemarle Corp. Choice Hotels International Pandora Media EMC Corporation NBA Bank of America Wells Fargo American Airlines Lowe’s Cos. Box Salesforce Levi Strauss Encore Music Publishers Airbnb Apple Red Hat Mountain Khakis Citrix Square Lyft Pfizer Inc. Glassdoor Dropbox YouTube Starbucks Citibank TD Bank Hilton Starwood Accenture Kellogg’s Uber Tumblr Gogobot Intel Yahoo Orbitz.com CheapTickets.com Gilt Replacements, Ltd. Zynga Jawbone Braintree Matrix Partners Cisco Systems The PNC Financial Services Group Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Oracle Whole Foods Market InterContinental Hotels Group Kimpton Hotels Restaurants LabCorp BD Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. Dr. Bronner’s Herbalife IBM Biogen Miramax PayPal Marriott International Microsoft Yelp Nextdoor Saturday Brand Communications The Common Market (Charlotte) Smash Communications Singley + Mackie Singley Content Studios Adam Shankman, director and producer Rob Reiner, director Duke University Wake Forest University Davidson College State of New York State of Vermont State of Washington State of Minnesota State of Connecticut City of Atlanta City of San Francisco City of Boston City of Seattle City of West Palm Beach, Fla. City of Santa Fe, N.M. American Society of Interior Designers ACPA-College Student Educators International NC League of Municipalities The American Kennel Club Human Rights Campaign Equality NC Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network American Society of Association Executives Computer & Communications Industry Association Consumer Technology Association Software & Information Industry Association Motion Picture Association of America The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority Alex Dimitrief, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, GE Ric Elias, CEO of Red Ventures Casey Wasserman, President and CEO of the Wasserman Foundation Steven R. Boal, CEO, Quotient Technology Inc. Brandee Barker, Cofounder, The Pramana Collective Michael Birch, Founder, Blab Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, co-CEOs, Atlassian Lorna Borenstein, CEO, Grokker Vice Forlenza, Chairman, CEO and President, BD Paul T. Dacier, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, EMC Corporation Brad Brinegar, Chairman and CEO, McKinney Lloyd Carney, CEO, Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. Ron Conway, Founder and Co-Managing Partner, SV Angel Dean Debnam, Chairman and CEO, Workplace Options David Ebersman, Cofounder and CEO, Lyra Health Jared Fliesler, General Partner, Matrix Partners Jason Goldberg, CEO, Pepo Mike Gregoire, CEO, CA Technologies Alan King, President and COO, Workplace Options Kristen Koh Goldstein, CEO, BackOps Mitchell Gold, co-founder and chair-man, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Paul Graham, Founder, Y Combinator David Hassell, CEO, 15Five Dave Imre, Partner and CEO, IMRE Dev Ittycheria, President &CEO, MongoDB Laurene Powell Jobs, President, Emerson Collective Cecily Joseph, VP Corporate Responsibility and Chief Diversity Officer, Symantec Corporation Joshua Kushner, Managing Partner, Thrive Capital Max Levchin, CEO, Affirm Dion Lim, CEO, NextLesson Shan-lyn Ma, CEO, Zola Bill Maris, CEO, Google Ventures Melody McCloskey, CEO, StyleSeat Douglas Merrill, CEO, Zestfinance Dyke Messinger, President and CEO, Power Curbers Inc. Michael Natenshon, CEO, Marine Layer Alexi G. Nazem, Cofounder and CEO, Nomad Health Laurie J. Olson, EVP, Strategy, Portfolio and Commercial Operations, Pfizer Inc. Evan Reece, CEO, Liftopia Stan Reiss, General Partner, Matrix Partners John Replogle, CEO, Seventh Generation Dan Rosensweig, CEO, Chegg Kevin P. Ryan, Founder and Chairman, Alleycorp Bijan Sabet, General Partner, Spark Capital Julie Samuels, President, Engine David A. Shaywitz, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer, DNAnexus Behshad Sheldon, President and CEO, Braeburn Pharmaceuticals Mark Trudeau, President and CEO, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals David Spector, Cofounder, ThirdLove Bret Taylor, CEO, Quip Todd Thibodeaux, CEO, CompTIA David Tisch, Managing Partner, BoxGroup Kevin A. Trapani, President and CEO, The Redwood Groups Bob &Harvey Weinstein, Co-Founders and Co-Chairmen, The Weinstein Company | Supporting HB2 Civitas Institute American Family Association The Charlotte Christian Chamber North Carolina Values Coalition Keep NC Safe Coalition Archangel Michael Orthodox Christian Bookstore To Your Health Bakery Sallie Caldwell, S &S Cleaning Service, LLC Reese Cao, XG Technologies Inc Jennifer Champion, Total Life Changes Sam Cowles, Main Street Investments, LLC Mark &Lora Godwin, Mark Godwin Family Farms Inc. David Griffin, Griffin Tile &Marble Inc. David &Judith Hale, Lighthouse Electric of Charlotte Dusten Harward, D Harward Marketing Debra Hasty, Hasty Home Resources H. Ralph Henderson, Omnichannel Productions Tim Herlihy, Occupational Health Concepts Rebekah Hopkins, Beethoven’s Piano Revelers Studio Jana Huffstetler, Collision Center of Stanley County Gregory Humphrey, Heaven’s Best Carpet Cleaning Cheryl Jones, ICI Lamp Company Sergey Kholod, Serglandscape Company Tony Mazzone, Comfort Security Adam and Michelle Mills, Mills Inc. Bill Montross, Christian Business Men Connections Jesse Newton, Green Branch Construction, Inc. Ronald Obie, WCRG Justin Reeder, Superior Wash Southeast David &Jason Benham, Benham Real Estate Group Lila Sanacore, Prayerful Touch Massage Doug Schmeuszer, Sunbelt Packaging LLC Tim Steele, Thermal Services, Inc. Gretchen, Tate, God’s Glamorous Girls Lisa Todd, Todd Group Keith Vance, Vance Resource llc Maria Vari, Strategic Resource Development Elizabeth Walker, Oexning Silversmiths, Inc. Paul, Weaver, AWPC, Inc Michael Wolff, KC Solutions Group Charles O’Connor, Advanced Enclosure Consulting Tracey Sellers, The Balanced Body Center Richard Gavin, Riverside Millwork Angela Smith, Lombardo Swimming Pools Shardae White, Personal Catering llc Carl Ford, South Rowan Broadcasting Inc. Alva Yandle, Melatex, Inc Carl Ford, Ford Broadcasting Inc. David Snyder, Snyder Packaging, Inc. | |
Katherine Peralta: 704-358-5079, @katieperalta
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