TO THE EDITOR:
As student representatives at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, we condemn the actions of the North Carolina General Assembly and Governor Pat McCrory to pass House Bill 2, which intentionally excludes LGBT and veterans from anti-discrimination protections in employment, housing and public accommodation, and prohibits any local government from providing such protections. It erodes civil rights, endangers vulnerable communities and harms the reputations of our state, local governments and institutions.
The proponents of this bill invented a moral panic, depicting transgender individuals as predators who intend to access bathrooms to assault women and children. Not only is there no record of any such thing ever occurring, but transgender people are often put in serious danger when forced to use facilities conflicting with their gender identity.
We applaud the major employers that have denounced House Bill 2. It is wearing away our state’s global status as a beacon of growth and innovation. As a public institution of N.C., Kenan-Flagler’s reputation will likewise suffer; the law makes it impossible for our top-ranked school to attract the best students and faculty. We choose to stand by our school’s core values: excellence, leadership, integrity, community and teamwork, and so we implore the General Assembly and Gov. McCrory to reconvene and pass a comprehensive non-discrimination act that respects, values, and protects all of North Carolina.
Susan Lawrence Hedglin
President of the MBA Student Associationdir
Jonathan Aronoff
Vice President for Diversity
Signing on behalf of: MBA Student Association Executive Council, Association of Minority Business Students, MBA@UNC LGBTQ Interest Group, Pride Club
