State suffers because of HB2

Suzanne Blake, Managing Editor

Bruce Springsteen may be born in the USA, but he sure isn’t ready to embrace one of its state’s hateful legislations.

The state has attained widespread notoriety for the newly implemented HB2 bill’s blatant discrimination against LGBT, specifically transgender, individuals, but there are countless other reasons to oppose its provisions.

Another issue decided in the bill is that employees cannot file wrongful termination claims at the state level and instead can only do so at the federal level.

This proves problematic, as there is a 180 day period in which one’s claim may be valid, and after this, the claim emerges as a lost cause. This is hurting every single worker in North Carolina.

Some workers require time to evaluate their termination as wrongful or prepare for making a case against their employer. Restricting the period of time of validity is unnecessary and only serves to undermine wrongfully terminated employees who are hesitant to take a stand.

The bill also makes clear that transgender discrimination is not a legal claim. This a direct attack on the fundamental values the U.S. prides itself on. Freedom, justice and personal rights are all suspended with this bill.

Many declare it is a new type of Jim Crow law for a different group of people, and while it is a massive step back in achieving transgender equality and understanding, all should be concerned about its ramifications, for they permeate into all N.C. residents’ lives.

Under the bill, the minimum wage cannot increase over the state and national mandate, $7.25 an hour. Cities cannot declare stricter child labor laws or increase protection for their employees at a level elevated above the state law.

A most ghastly provision is that, if a court rules an article or aspect of the bill invalid, the rest remain valid. This means each article must be eradicated one by one. There is no light at the end of the tunnel, and the tunnel created by this bill is quite treacherous.

HB2 has already met immense opposition, even beyond Springsteen’s decision to cancel his Charlotte show. The defunding of production for the Lionsgate new Hulu TV show “Crushed” as well as PayPal’s decision to cease the creation of a new global operations center in Charlotte are just extensions of the problem.

I support the repeal of this bill and request that those in ignorance of its true provisions look again.

Otherwise, the state will suffer, and not just those citizens who identify with their opposite biological gender.