Top NC GOP Lawmakers Lash Out at Charlotte Mayor for Refusing to Repeal Nondiscrimination Ordinance

Falsely Suggest Repealing NDO Would End Boycotts

The Speaker of the North Carolina House and the Senate Leader, both Republicans, are lashing out at Charlotte Democratic Mayor Jennifer Roberts for her refusal (video above) to repeal a non-discrimination law passed earlier this year. Their attacks appear to be efforts to prop up the troubled re-election campaign of their fellow Republican, Governor Pat McCrory. In the wake of the Charlotte City Council expanding rights for LGBT people, Republican state lawmakers, and their fellow Republican governor teamed up to enact one of the most far-reaching anti-LGBT laws in the nation, HB2.

Last week through various channels, Gov. McCrory suggested that if Roberts would repeal Charlotte’s law that allows transgender people to use public restrooms that correspond to their gender identity, he would repeal HB2, the law that was drafted, debated, passed, and signed in less than 12 hours. 

“Rather than trying to seek a solution that would reset a contentious debate, Mayor Roberts and her allies, including Roy Cooper and special interest groups, have decided that they would rather play a game of politics than take steps toward a solution,” House Speaker Tim Moore said in a statement, referring to Gov. McCrory’s Democratic opponent, the state attorney general.

“It now seems clear that all along Mayor Roberts and Roy Cooper have been engaging in political theater to the detriment of the entire state, and this explains why they have refused to heed the calls to act from the business community and from people on all sides of the political spectrum,” Moore added, as WBTV reports.

Senate Leader Phil Berger was only too happy to join the fray, claiming Roberts’ refusal to repeal protections for LGBT citizens, which HB2 wiped out, delivered a very similar statement.

It “makes me question if she and Roy Cooper are really serious about trying to find a solution, or if they would rather prolong this debate for political reasons – regardless of the impact on Charlotte and our state’s business community,” Berger accused. “If the Charlotte City Council doesn’t trust the legislature will rescind HB2 once Charlotte repeals its bathroom ordinance, then it could simply pass a repeal of the bathroom ordinance that is only effective if the legislature repeals HB2.” 

In reality, business groups, business leaders, and businesses did not wage a boycott of Charlotte when the city council passed the nondiscrimination ordinance. Only when Republicans passed HB2 did the boycotts begin.

Of course, Speaker Moore is incorrect. Public opinion is against HB2 with most saying they believed it has not only harmed the state but fails to “protect” women. And in a stunning twist of “logic,” Moore and Berger teamed up together on Sunday to blame HB2 on Mayor Roberts:

Curiously, the North Carolina Republican Party Chairman, Robin Hayes, also issued an attack remarkably similar to Moore’s and Berger’s.

“Roy Cooper’s silence on the Charlotte bathroom ordinance repeal deal confirms he was working with his ally Jennifer Roberts to kill any compromise all along,” Hayes said Monday. “This is the second time Roy Cooper and Jennifer Roberts have blocked good-faith efforts to keep sporting events in North Carolina, and shows Roy Cooper is more interested in playing politics at the expense of hardworking North Carolinians than doing his job to help them.”

“While the Governor and legislature have been willing to compromise to find a resolution, Roy Cooper and Jennifer Roberts have been following the orders of radical Washington, D.C. special interest groups who will not stop until they impose an extreme, politically-correct agenda on our state to allow men to use women’s restrooms, showers and locker rooms,” Hayes continued. 

“By again blocking a compromise deal, it is clear that both Roy Cooper and Jennifer Roberts want to keep this issue alive to raise campaign cash and ultimately change the definition of gender in our country,” he said.

Over 200 localities have nondiscrimination ordinances similar to Charlotte’s and none have caused a problem. 

 

Hat tip: + yay, Joe.My.God.