Here’s the entire #HB2 repeal bill

Yesterday, we heard about the HB2 repeal bill coming down the pike.

Some liked the bill, but others were not happy about the compromise aspect of the document. We want full repeal or nothing.

Well, last night, the repeal came out

Section 2 is trash though

North Carolina Lawmakers Defeat Repeal Of "Bathroom Bill" - VIDEO

Outgoing NC Governor says HB2 Will Be Repealed

Interesting news from North Carolina... Well, more interesting news.

Governor Pat McCrory is calling a special session of the General Assembly to repeal HB2 (the bathroom bill).

From a press release:

“Governor McCrory has always publicly advocated a repeal of the overreaching Charlotte ordinance. But those efforts were always blocked by Jennifer Roberts, Roy Cooper and other Democratic activists,” said Graham Wilson, Press Secretary. “This sudden reversal with little notice after the gubernatorial election sadly proves this entire issue originated by the political left was all about politics and winning the governor’s race at the expense of Charlotte and our entire state. As promised, Governor McCrory will call a special session.”

Incoming Governor Roy Cooper released a statement on Facebook



More to come

NCAA MOVES their championships out of North Carolina for 2016-17

Well this cuts deep.

The NCAA has withdrawn all championship events from North Carolina because the state's hateful HB2 law.

This decision from NCAA affects all seven NCAA championship events... All of the NCAA events! They released a statement explain their stance.

Based on the NCAA's commitment to fairness and inclusion, the Association will relocate all seven previously awarded championship events from North Carolina during the 2016-17 academic year. The NCAA Board of Governors made this decision because of the cumulative actions taken by the state concerning civil rights protections.

In its decision Monday, the Board of Governors emphasized that NCAA championships and events must promote an inclusive atmosphere for all college athletes, coaches, administrators and fans. Current North Carolina state laws make it challenging to guarantee that host communities can help deliver on that commitment if NCAA events remained in the state, the board said.

“Fairness is about more than the opportunity to participate in college sports, or even compete for championships,” said Mark Emmert, NCAA president. “We believe in providing a safe and respectful environment at our events and are committed to providing the best experience possible for college athletes, fans and everyone taking part in our championships."

The board stressed that the dynamic in North Carolina is different from that of other states because of at least four specific factors:

North Carolina laws invalidate any local law that treats sexual orientation as a protected class or has a purpose to prevent discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individuals.
North Carolina has the only statewide law that makes it unlawful to use a restroom different from the gender on one’s birth certificate, regardless of gender identity.
North Carolina law provides legal protections for government officials to refuse services to the LGBT community.
Five states plus numerous cities prohibit travel to North Carolina for public employees and representatives of public institutions, which could include student-athletes and campus athletics staff. These states are New York, Minnesota, Washington, Vermont and Connecticut.
“As representatives of all three divisions, the Board of Governors must advance college sports through policies that resolve core issues affecting student-athletes and administrators,” said G.P. “Bud” Peterson, Board of Governors chair and Georgia Institute of Technology president. “This decision is consistent with the NCAA's long-standing core values of inclusion, student-athlete well-being and creating a culture of fairness.”

These seven championship events will be relocated from North Carolina for 2016-17:

2016 Division I Women’s Soccer Championship, College Cup (Cary), Dec. 2 and 4.
2016 Division III Men’s and Women’s Soccer Championships (Greensboro), Dec. 2 and 3.
2017 Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, first/second rounds (Greensboro), March 17 and 19.
2017 Division I Women’s Golf Championships, regional (Greenville), May 8-10.
2017 Division III Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships (Cary), May 22-27.
2017 Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship (Cary), May 26 and 28.
2017 Division II Baseball Championship (Cary), May 27-June 3.
Emmert said the NCAA will determine the new locations for these championships soon.

“The NCAA Constitution clearly states our values of inclusion and gender equity, along with the membership’s expectation that we as the Board of Governors protect those values for all,” said Susquehanna University President Jay Lemons, vice chair of the Board of Governors and chair of the ad hoc committee on diversity and inclusion. “Our membership comprises many different types of schools – public, private, secular, faith-based – and we believe this action appropriately reflects the collective will of that diverse group.”

Historically, the Association has taken steps to ensure its championship environment is consistent with its values. The NCAA bans championships in states where governments display the Confederate battle flag or authorize sports wagering and at schools that use hostile and abusive Native American imagery.

The only championship events that can be hosted in North Carolina this academic year are those that are decided when student-athletes earn the opportunity to play a championship on their own campus. The Board of Governors said this decision to allow these championships – called nonpredetermined sites – to be played in North Carolina is consistent with the NCAA’s commitment to student-athletes.

Based on an April directive from the Board of Governors, which represents all three divisions, cities interested in hosting future NCAA championships completed a questionnaire this summer that required sites to provide information about any local anti-discrimination laws; provisions for refusal of services; and other facility-specific information.

A group of representatives from NCAA schools will continue to evaluate these responses to determine which locations can host future championships. These decisions, typically announced in early December, will be delayed until next year, Emmert said.

North Carolina Dems Introduce Bill to Replace HB2

Chris Sgro

Well, look what happens when justice comes calling.

North Carolina Representatives Chris Sgro, Pricey Harrison, Susan Fisher, and Kelly Alexander introduced a comprehensive LGBT non-discrimination bill to replace HB2. This bill will completely protect LGBT citizens of North Carolina.

However, NC GOP ain't done yet. They are demanding the Department of Education to say if they will take away funding from public schools and universities. These jokers... Anywho, I'm sure by next week this will be over and HB2 will be nothing but ashes.

Interesting Quote: North Carolina AG Roy Cooper

“The governor is pouring gas on the fire that he lit by putting billions of dollars of education funding on the line. Instead of doing what’s right for our state, he’s doubling down on what he knows he did wrong. Enough is enough. Set politics aside and undo this discriminatory law now.”

Loretta Lynch's statement on North Carolina's HB2 - WATCH

Justice Department Sues North Carolina over Bathroom Law

Loretta laid it all out y'all!

Here's her statement

Good afternoon and thank you all for being here. Today, I'm joined by [Vanita] Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice. We are here to announce a significant law enforcement action regarding North Carolina's Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, also known as House Bill 2.

The North Carolina General Assembly passed House Bill 2 in special session on March 23 of this year. The bill sought to strike down an anti-discrimination provision in a recently-passed Charlotte, North Carolina, ordinance, as well as to require transgender people in public agencies to use the bathrooms consistent with their sex as noted at birth, rather than the bathrooms that fit their gender identity. The bill was signed into law that same day. In so doing, the legislature and the governor placed North Carolina in direct opposition to federal laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex and gender identity. More to the point, they created state-sponsored discrimination against transgender individuals, who simply seek to engage in the most private of functions in a place of safety and security - a right taken for granted by most of us.

Last week, our Civil Rights Division notified state officials that House Bill 2 violates federal civil rights laws. We asked that they certify by the end of the day today that they would not comply with or implement House Bill 2's restriction on restroom access. An extension was requested by North Carolina and was under active consideration. But instead of replying to our offer or providing a certification, this morning, the state of North Carolina and its governor chose to respond by suing the Department of Justice. As a result of their decisions, we are now moving forward.

Today, we are filing a federal civil rights lawsuit against the state of North Carolina, Governor Pat McCrory, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the University of North Carolina. We are seeking a court order declaring House Bill 2's restroom restriction impermissibly discriminatory, as well as a statewide bar on its enforcement. While the lawsuit currently seeks declaratory relief, I want to note that we retain the option of curtailing federal funding to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the University of North Carolina as this case proceeds.

This action is about a great deal more than just bathrooms. This is about the dignity and respect we accord our fellow citizens and the laws that we, as a people and as a country, have enacted to protect them - indeed, to protect all of us. And it's about the founding ideals that have led this country - haltingly but inexorably - in the direction of fairness, inclusion and equality for all Americans.

This is not the first time that we have seen discriminatory responses to historic moments of progress for our nation. We saw it in the Jim Crow laws that followed the Emancipation Proclamation. We saw it in fierce and widespread resistance to Brown v. Board of Education. And we saw it in the proliferation of state bans on same-sex unions intended to stifle any hope that gay and lesbian Americans might one day be afforded the right to marry. That right, of course, is now recognized as a guarantee embedded in our Constitution, and in the wake of that historic triumph, we have seen bill after bill in state after state taking aim at the LGBT community. Some of these responses reflect a recognizably human fear of the unknown, and a discomfort with the uncertainty of change. But this is not a time to act out of fear. This is a time to summon our national virtues of inclusivity, diversity, compassion and open-mindedness. What we must not do - what we must never do - is turn on our neighbors, our family members, our fellow Americans, for something they cannot control, and deny what makes them human. This is why none of us can stand by when a state enters the business of legislating identity and insists that a person pretend to be something they are not, or invents a problem that doesn't exist as a pretext for discrimination and harassment.

Let me speak now to the people of the great state, the beautiful state, my state of North Carolina. You've been told that this law protects vulnerable populations from harm - but that just is not the case. Instead, what this law does is inflict further indignity on a population that has already suffered far more than its fair share. This law provides no benefit to society - all it does is harm innocent Americans.

Instead of turning away from our neighbors, our friends, our colleagues, let us instead learn from our history and avoid repeating the mistakes of our past. Let us reflect on the obvious but often neglected lesson that state-sanctioned discrimination never looks good in hindsight. It was not so very long ago that states, including North Carolina, had signs above restrooms, water fountains and on public accommodations keeping people out based upon a distinction without a difference. We have moved beyond those dark days, but not without pain and suffering and an ongoing fight to keep moving forward. Let us write a different story this time. Let us not act out of fear and misunderstanding, but out of the values of inclusion, diversity and regard for all that make our country great.

Let me also speak directly to the transgender community itself. Some of you have lived freely for decades. Others of you are still wondering how you can possibly live the lives you were born to lead. But no matter how isolated or scared you may feel today, the Department of Justice and the entire Obama Administration wants you to know that we see you; we stand with you; and we will do everything we can to protect you going forward. Please know that history is on your side. This country was founded on a promise of equal rights for all, and we have always managed to move closer to that promise, little by little, one day at a time. It may not be easy - but we'll get there together.

I want to thank my colleagues in the Civil Rights Division who have devoted many hours to this case so far, and who will devote many more to seeing it through. At this time, I'd like to turn things over to Vanita Gupta, whose determined leadership on this and so many other issues has been essential to the Justice Department's work.

WATCH LIVE as AG Loretta Lynch presents “Law Enforcement Action” Against North Carolina’s Hate Law

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

AG Loretta Lynch will announce Law Enforcement Action against NC over the Unconstitutional HB2

Ma'am ain't playing, y'all

See this

Basically, she said "I don't have time for your games, Trick!"

The presser starts at 3:30pm EDT

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory files a Lawsuit against the DOJ

We’re taking the Obama admin to court. They're bypassing Congress, attempting to rewrite law & policies for the whole country, not just NC.

— Pat McCrory (@PatMcCroryNC) May 9, 2016

Our lawsuit seeks to ensure that NC continues to receive federal funding until the courts clarify federal law & resolve this national issue.

— Pat McCrory (@PatMcCroryNC) May 9, 2016

So what you see is a foolish attempt to keep a unconstitutional law alive/ Pat and the state Department of Public Safety Secretary Frank Perry had the nerve to file a suit against the Justice Department. They claim that the DOJ created a “radical reinterpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.”

Girl, this is a dumb ass tactic that I know Loretta Lynch is looking them like "Bitches, please."

This suit continues to waste taxpayers money and possibly, preparing Pat's exit out of the Governor's seat.

Let watch as this suit fails.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory whines over the demands for HB2 Repeal - WATCH

U.S. Justice Department says HB2 violates federal Civil Rights Act

And speaking on HB2... The U.S. Justice Department officials just let Gov. Pat McCrory know that HB2 violates the U.S. Civil Rights Act.

In fact, the Justice Department sent a letter informing him that if they keep HB2, North Carolina could lose millions in federal school funding.

Here's more:

In the letter, Valita Gupta, principal deputy assistant attorney general, said, “”...The Department of Justice has determined that, as a result of compliance with and implementation of NC House Bill2, both you and the state of NC are in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act 0f 1964...

“Title VII prohibits an employer from discriminating against an individual on the basis of sex and from otherwise resisting the full enjoyment of Title VII rights....

“Federal courts and administrative agencies have applied Title VII to discrimination against transgender individuals based on sex, including gender identity....

“Access to sex-segregated restrooms and other workplace facilities consistent with gender identity is a term, condition or privilege of employment. Denying such access to transgender individuals, whose gender identity is different from the gender assigned at birth, while affording it to similarly situated non-transgender employees, violates Title VII …

“HB 2...is facially discriminatory against transgender employees on the basis of sex because it treats transgender employees, whose gender identity does not match their biological sex, as defined by HB2, differently from similarly situated non transgender employees…

Based upon the above, we have concluded that in violation of Title VII, the state is engaged in a pattern or practice of resistance to the full enjoyment of Title VII rights byu employees of public agencies…

“Please advise the department, therefore, no later than the close of business on May 9, 2016, whether you will remedy these violations of Title VII including by confirming that the state will not comply with or implement HB2....

“We further inform you that that today the department sent letters addressed to the NC Department of Public Safety and the University of NC similarly notifying them of our conclusion that they have engaged in violations of Title VII as well as violations of Title IX.”

I bet Pat's face is cracked and on the ground in many small pieces.

source

Beyonce speaks out against HB2

King Bey has spoken out against the Anti-LGBT bill HB2.

On her site, she wrote

“As The Formation World Tour makes its stop in the Tar Heel state in the midst of such a controversial time, we think it is important for us to bring attention to those who are committed to being good and carrying on the message of equality in this core of controversy. Among the many organizations doing the good work to get this bill overturned, there is Equality NC, a local organization dedicated to securing equal rights and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) North Carolinians.

To accomplish these goals, Equality NC tirelessly lobbies the North Carolina General Assembly, executive branch, and local governments, broadcast LGBT news, stories and content, and mobilize our communities on issues that matter, including marriage equality, parental rights, inclusive anti-bullying policies, employment discrimination, hate violence, privacy rights, sexuality education, adoption, domestic partnerships, and HIV/AIDS.

Learn more about how you can support Equality NC by donating, volunteering, becoming an ambassador, attending an event, or simply spreading the word!

Instagram Post of the Day

Today is really boring -Vic

A photo posted by 85.5k+ Gaybies ❤️ (@lgbt.gaybies) on Apr 23, 2016 at 11:47am PDT

Nick Jonas and Demi Lovato cancel their Concert in North Carolina over HB2

LiveStream host Protest on HB2 in North Carolina

Bloggers are posting the livestream of the HB2 Protest in North Carolina.

LiveStream reports

The North Carolina NAACP and the Forward Together Moral Movement are joined by organizations and people from all over the state to protest HB2, the hateful bill that was hastily passed by the North Carolina General Assembly and quickly signed into law by a Governor who later admitted that the bill - targeted at North Carolinas transgender community while also stripping North Carolina workers of their rights as employees - "has problems". There will be multiple streams throughout the day so make sure you click FOLLOW on the Fusion Films LiveStream page to receive email updates every time a stream goes live

WATCH as Gov. Pat McCrory crash and burns on Meet The Press

Pat stumbled and mumbled through this interview. Then has the nerve to talk about Black folks thanking him for HB2. Don't do it, trick! Don't do it!

Comic of the Day

Trans People of North Carolina speak out about HB2 - WATCH