White House Slams Southern States’ New Anti-LGBT Bills as ‘Nothing Less Than Mean-Spirited’ (Video)

SPOX Says Bills Are ‘Not a Good Endorsement of Your Business Climate’

The White House Tuesday denounced the recent spate of anti-LGBT bills that have been making their way through legislatures in the South as “nothing less than mean-spirited,” adding that they are not conducive to attracting business to those states.

Asked about HB 2414, an anti-transgender “bathroom bill” that could result in federal agencies cutting up to $1.2 billion from Tennessee, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said, “the administration is firmly committed to promoting and defending equal rights for all Americans, including LGBT Americans.”

“Specific laws like this that seek to target and marginalize one small segment of the population is nothing less than mean-spirited,” Earnest added, responding to Washington Blade Chief Political & White House Reporter Chris Johnson. “That was true when they passed similar provisions in places like North Carolina and Mississippi, and it’s true as it’s being considered in a place like Tennessee.”

Earnest observed that these anti-LGBT bills bring with them unintended consequences, including damage to state economies.

“What’s also true in Tennessee is that that state has thrived in part because of their ability to make their case across the country that they’ve got a great climate to do business,” Earnest said. “Passing mean-spirited bills through the state legislature is not a good endorsement of your business climate and ultimately individual businesses will have to make their own decisions about this.”

In state after state, even when bills are not even passed, businesses have decided to move out of state in response. Just today, the CEO of an $875 million financial services corporation announced he was moving his company to Los Angeles in response to an anti-LGBT bill in South Carolina. And in February Georgia telecom company 373k told NCRM they were moving out of state even though the governor ultimately vetoed an anti-LGBT bill, saying they no longer felt comfortable.

“I think what is also true is states like Tennessee, and to a certain extent, North Carolina and Mississippi, have a long history over the last couple generations of working through questions of civil rights,” Earnest said. “President Obama has talked on a number of occasions about the important progress that our country has made with regard to civil rights.”

“This is a good illustration that the fight for civil rights is not over, and demanding equality for every American and ensuring that Americans are not singled out because of their sex, or their race, or what their last name is, or their religion, or who they love or who they are is a struggle that continues,” Earnest said, noting that “the president every time is going to be on the side of equality and justice for every American.”

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Image: Screenshot via The White House/YouTube