Opinion: LGBT employees deserve workplace protections

Thursday, Gov. Pat McCrory vetoed a religious exemption bill which would allow some court officials to avoid marrying same sex couples on religious or moral grounds.

“No public official who voluntarily swears to support and defend the Constitution and to discharge all duties of their office should be exempt from upholding that oath,” McCrory wrote in a statement.

McCrory’s actions are a good indicator of more positive outlook towards LGBT rights in North Carolina.

Though the Senate has voted to override McCrory’s veto, McCrory’s actions should be celebrated — but with reservations and an eye to his past actions.

This veto is a surprising move from McCrory, who has previously supported socially conservative policies including his notable resistance to Medicaid expansion and access to reproductive health care.

Moments like this are a good reminders that politicians of all political parties can step outside of party lines.

McCrory should use the remainder of his term to continue to stand for LGBT rights, even if his General Assembly resists these changes. However, praise of McCrory’s veto should not ignore the fact that he has also undermined LGBT North Carolinians.

North Carolina is one of twenty states in the nation that do not include sexual orientation or gender identity as a protected status, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

In June 2014, McCrory signed an executive order intended to prevent workplace discrimination — but it left out LGBT workers.

In doing so, he missed an opportunity to extend workplace equality to all of the people he pledged to serve as governor.

McCrory defended the exclusion by saying it was similar to other policies, according to WRAL.

“It does mirror federal regulation. It does mirror state law. And it does mirror the previous governors who have signed similar orders,” he said.

Leadership is not simply copying and pasting laws and regulations from previous administrations. McCrory should use this opportunity — a time when he is being praised nationally for his veto — to correct this 2014 mistake.

Besides being the right thing to do, giving workplace protections to LGBT people makes sense from an economic standpoint.

If McCrory hopes to market North Carolina as a perfect location for both small businesses and national corporations, showing that the state wants all employees to be protected makes sense.