Saturday, April 02, 2016

North Carolina Could Lose U.S. Funding Over Anti-LGBT Law


Bravo, Obama administration. The people of North Carolina don't have time for this injustice to work its way through the courts, so anything that can be done to put pressure on the governor is welcomed by me. We have a federal government for a reason. If it were up to most Southern states, blacks would still be three-fifths of a person.



Read HERE.


9 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh, kenneth, your "most southern states are racist" comment is beneath your intelligence, republican politics and religious leaders nationwide are responsible for the recent rfra backlash to the marriage equality ruling, not the region of the country.

rfra laws and legislation exist in 32 states, and half the country offers zero lgbt civil rights protections, so either the south encompasses three-fifths of the country, or your comment is itself prejudiced.

Danforth said...

Given that in the past week alone, we've seen these sorts of anti-LGBT laws pass in North Carolina, Georgia (albeit vetoed) and now Mississippi, (and I might be forgetting Virginia too, with another veto), I can't imagine why anybody would have the impression that the South is a particularly problematic area on this issue! Pointing out that it happens elsewhere doesn't magically debunk this; saying the South is discriminatory doesn't mean it's monolithically so (yes, we get that the entire populace isn't, but it's certainly the prevailing attitude that seems to rise to the top, possibly because they keep electing the same sorts of politicians?) or the only place where it happens. Getting thin-skinned about this is just being an apologist and throwing up a smokescreen, in my opinion. Try to understand the outrage instead of taking it personally. It's like pretending Jim Crow laws were just coincidentally focused on a certain region.

Anonymous said...


danforth, it isn't about being thin skinned, it's about making sure the convenient fallback "blame the racist south" narrative doesn't overshadow or bury the fact these rfra laws and rulings are everywhere, in alaska, arizona, connecticut, hawaii, idaho, illinois, indiana, kansas, maine, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, missouri, montana, new mexico, ohio, oklahoma, pennsylvania, rhode island, virginia, washington, and wisconsin.

southern states have a well earned reputation, and while the rural areas haven't advanced as quickly, industry, universities, and larger cities have balanced the combined electorate to mirror other conservative states (within a few percentage points). this is not a regional bigotry issue, it's a national civil rights and religion issue.

Tim said...

I understand exactly what you are saying northalabama. But, just to clarify... The new HB2 law in North Carolina is NOT a RFRA law. It is far, far worse than a RFRA law. It eliminated all existing protections for the entire LGBT community and outlawed any future protections. And, no claim of religious freedom is involved. The new law makes it perfectly legal everywhere across the state to discriminate against the LGBT community for no reason at all including no requirement for a religious reason. In addition it eliminates local communities ability to set a higher minimum wage. And, it eliminates any citizen from bringing an employment discrimination lawsuit at the state level, leaving a federal lawsuit as the only option. Of course, federal lawsuits are more expensive to bring and have only a 90 day statute of limitations vs what was 2 years at the state level.

Anonymous said...

yes, the north carolina law unnecessarily expands on previous, hideous rfra laws, however; it's core is still considered to be an rfra law, as a few seconds and a quick internet search easily reveals.

it is a religion law that targets lgbt civil rights, not a slavery or southern racism law.

Tim said...

northalabama.... my point was that the NC law isn't a RFRA law because no religious objection is required for your discrimination. You can discriminate just because you want to. You are not required to have any religious objection.

Kenneth M. Walsh said...

@northalbama: Um, no.

Anonymous said...

ok, i'm wrong, the nc law doesn't have an rfra component. when reporting compared the law with rfra laws in indiana & georgia it was confusing, but i never read the law.

so this proves a connection between the law and slavery and racism in the south?

Tim said...

northalabama... no, it does not prove a connection to racism. I was not arguing against your first post, just adding further clarification. In fact, I agree with you that there are just as many non-southern states with RFRA laws as southern states. There has to be as there just aren't that many southern states to encompass all the bigotry in this country