There will be a protest against HB2 today at the General Assembly building in Raleigh, and there will also be a rally supporting the bill.
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“Our state is a state of crisis”, Chris Sgro, executive director of the Equality North Carolina advocacy group, said at a news conference in Raleigh ahead of the petitions being delivered to Republican Gov. Pat McCrory’s office. Monday marks the first day of the work session.
Leaders from the NAACP are expected to offer legislation they say should have been passed instead of House Bill Two. All but one were to be charged with second-degree trespassing, acting General Assembly Police Chief Martin Brock said.
A total of 54 protesters were arrested Monday evening, as some interrupted lawmakers when the short session convened Monday.
“We’re expecting the number of attendees to be in the thousands”, said Dave Goetze, an HB 2 supporter.
Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr, Ani DiFranco, Pearl Jam, and Boston, among others, are all among the musicians who have cancelled upcoming performances in North Carolina over the controversial legislation.
Singers Demi Lovato and Nick Jones said Monday that they wouldn’t perform in Charlotte and Raleigh this summer because of the law, becoming the latest performers to cancel concerts in the state. “They need to stand firm”.
The state has lost a string of big investment ventures over Governor McCrory’s decision not to veto an anti-LGBT law which voided all local ordinances protecting LGBT rights, bans transgender students in public schools from using their preferred bathroom, and permits businesses to discriminate against LGBT people on the grounds of religious belief. One of the leading speakers will be Ron Baity of Return America. They carried cardboard boxes holding what they said were 180,000 pro-repeal signatures on a petition for delivery to McCrory, whose office sits within the 1840 Capitol building.
Those in support of HB2 came out in force too. Opponents feel it is clearly discriminatory and targets the LGBT community. “And it is incumbent upon everybody to show us the same courtesy we show them”, said Goetze.
Republican legislative leaders have expressed no interest in overturning the new law.
House Bill 946 was stamped, signed, and filed Monday morning.
A group of more than 150 mental health professionals have signed a letter seeking the repeal of a North Carolina law that limits protections for the LGBT community. Deutsche Bank froze Cary expansion plans.
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House Speaker Tim Moore issued a statement de-emphasizing the repeal effort, saying the bill would go through the normal legislative process.
