TO THE EDITOR:
HB2 and the subsequent “compromise bill,” HB 142, are actually identity-based issues about the rights of the LGBTQ community, and in particular, the transgender community.
However, their voices have not been heard. Instead, their voices have been silenced behind a mirror of fiscal priority. It is no surprise that HB2 was repealed on March 30.
The NCAA gave N.C. a deadline to repeal HB2 by March 30 to avoid a ban on sports championships through 2022.
But it was not representatives of the LGBTQ community at the table on March 29. Rather, a group of CEOs and other business leaders from N.C. were trying to facilitate a deal between Republican and Democratic legislators.
It worked, and just before the deadline.
It is a shame HB2 not only discriminated (against) a specific targeted group of citizens, but also cost the state millions of dollars in revenue and opportunity.
But what is really lost in all of this mess are people, not dollars. Human beings should never compromise money over human and civil rights.
This issue will never go away because it is an identity-based conflict — identity is non-negotiable.
