North Carolina is in the midst of seeing one of the many prices of hate.
After the state pushed through a “religious-freedom” law — basically giving carte blanche to bigotry — private and public sectors are fighting back. The governors of New York, Vermont and Washington have banned state-sponsored travel to the state, a move echoed by several American mayors. Ninety CEOs of major corporations, such as tech giants Apple, Google and Facebook, signed on to a letter condemning the law. A coalition of LGBT groups has sued the state over the measure.
Ideally, the backlash will have North Carolina elected officials regretting the restrictive move. But even more so, the public outcry sends an important message to lawmakers in other states considering such discriminatory laws.
Pennsylvania has the good fortune to be led right now by an LGBT-affirming governor, but that doesn’t guarantee that lawmakers in our state who oppose LGBT rights — and we’ve unfortunately seen that we have many of them here in the Keystone State — won’t try to follow in North Carolina’s misguided steps.
As much opposition as the law is getting, it can also be seen as a rallying point for staunch conservatives, who may want to ride on the coattails of a certain divisive Republican presidential candidate. Drawing on the ignorance of some voters has seemed to work for him, so why not stir up some controversy and take advantage of the bigotry of constituents for political gain?
The LGBT and ally community needs to be as proactive as possible in fending off these attacks, just as free-thinking voters are in countering the vitriol spewed by Donald Trump and other candidates. Lawmakers need to be shown the price of discrimination before they take steps to codify degradation.
From tourism to business to public relations to economics, treating LGBT people as second-class citizens is simply not worth it.