Heated debate, protests and boycotts over North Carolina’s controversial law, which some consider discriminatory towards members of the LGBT community, has not changed the North Carolina Governor’s mind on one of the key provisions in the law that restricts transgender people from using the bathroom of the gender they identify as.
“I do believe in our high schools, in our middle schools, in our universities, we should continue to have the tradition that we’ve been having in this country for years. And we have a women’s facility and a men’s facility. You know, it’s worked out pretty well. And I don’t think we need any further government interference,” Republican Gov. Pat McCrory said on “Meet the Press”.
In the last week, the Governor has tried to undo some of the damage caused by the new law by signing an executive order that expands equal opportunity protection for LGBT employees of the state.
Why I signed an executive order to affirm & improve NC’s commitment to privacy & equality: https://t.co/iNM8iqJ7sQ
— Pat McCrory (@PatMcCroryNC) April 12, 2016
When asked why he didn’t call for a law to protect LGBT North Carolinians from discrimination if fired from the private sector in conjunction with his executive order, he responded, “Because I’m not the private sector’s H.R. director.” He continued, “I am the H.R. director and the governor of all state employees. And I signed an executive order which protects all state employees, in the ninth-largest state in United States of America.”
But when asked how that logic is any different from the logic used by politicians who opposed civil rights legislation in the 1960’s, McCrory ducked the question and said he didn’t know of any businesses that are discriminating against the LGBT community. “But at the same time, what we’ve got to do is deal with this extremely new social norm that has come to our nation at a very quick period of time,” he said.
One hundred-sixty companies have called for the law’s repeal since McCrory signed it back in March. When asked if he had any regrets about signing HB2, especially concerning potential lost revenue for the state, McCrory simply said that he “will always call out government overreach.”
“The city of Charlotte passed a bathroom ordinance mandate on every private sector employer in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the largest, 15th, 16th-largest cities in the United States of America. And I think that’s government overreach. It’s not government’s business to tell the private sector what their bathroom, locker room, or shower practices should be,” McCrory said.
This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.
Shawna Thomas
Shawna is a Senior Producer of "Meet the Press" and also works on expanding the show to multiple NBC News and social media platforms. Before that she was one of NBC News' White House producers, reported on Congress and helped plan NBC's coverage of the 2008 presidential election. She has a degree in political communication from the George Washington University and a graduate degree in journalism from the University of Southern California.
Ashley Bastock