Kellogg’s Non-Profit Cancels $1.5 Million North Carolina Children’s Conference Over HB2

‘Biggest Economic Hit’ for Asheville From HB2

A non-profit founded by breakfast cereal giant Kellogg’s is canceling a huge conference that was slated for Asheville, North Carolina, in response to HB2, an anti-LGBT law that has reportedly cost the state billions. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation in April denounced HB2, and now says “as a result” of the law, “we are cancelling this four-day conference which would have brought over 500 people to North Carolina and generated millions of dollars in economic activity for the state’s local economy.”

Local ABC affiliate WLOS reporter Kimberly King broke the news Monday. The station says the cancelation is the “biggest economic hit for the city” of Asheville from HB2.

“During the conference, leaders from across the U.S. discuss how to deal with race, ethnicity and issues of discrimination in reference to healthcare, housing, education, criminal justice and employment,” WLOS reports. “This year’s conference will also discuss LGBTQ discrimination, but the focus is always on raising children in communities where work is being done to alleviate prejudice and discrimination.”

WLOS adds that this year’s conference “would have been the first of a seven-year initiative that could have come to Asheville each year.”

Kellogg Foundation president and CEO La June Montgomery Tabron (photo) in a statement denounced HB2.

“Policies that deny any member of a community equal rights under the law do not reflect the values of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation,” Tabron said. “These actions are counter to our belief that all children deserve to live in families where they and their parents have equal rights and opportunities to thrive.”

 

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