McCrory meets with Griffin, trans advocate over anti-LGBT law

March 31, 2016 at 3:42 pm EST | by Chris Johnson

North Carolina, HB 2, gay news, Washington Blade

Chief of Staff of the Governor of North Carolina Thomas Stith and Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin (Screen capture via YouTube)

A trio of LGBT advocates have met with North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory amid growing discontent with the newly enacted anti-LGBT law in the state, the Human Rights Campaign announced Thursday.

The advocates, including Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin, met with McCrory in his office at the state capitol in Raleigh, N.C., to deliver a letter signed by more than 100 major businesses calling for repeal of House Bill 2.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, Griffin — along with Equality North Carolina Executive Director Chris Sgro and transgender advocate Candis Cox-Daniels — urged McCrory to convene a broader meeting with LGBT people, especially transgender North Carolina resident and their families, to discuss the impact of the newly enacted anti-LGBT law.

“In our meeting with Gov. McCrory, we made crystal clear that HB 2 is discriminatory, shameful, and needs to be repealed immediately,” Griffin said in a statement. “We also called on him to continue to meet with LGBT North Carolinians in the days and weeks prior to April’s legislative session. The question Gov. McCrory faces is a simple one: Will he seize this opportunity to show true leadership, or will he allow North Carolina to remain on the wrong side of history? This law is doing extraordinary damage to the state’s economic prospects, its reputation, and most importantly, it’s LGBT community. The nation is waiting and watching to see which path he will take.”

House Bill 2, signed into law last week by McCrory after an emergency session of the state legislature, undoes all pro-LGBT city ordinances in North Carolina, including a recently approved measure in Charlotte, and prohibits transgender people from using public restrooms consistent with their gender identity in schools and government buildings.

“While we were glad that the governor agreed to meet with us today to take the first step towards doing the right thing, we reiterated that he must continue to meet with LGBT North Carolinians who are directly affected by the new law,” Sgro said in a statement. “We strongly urged the governor to repeal this harmful bill and restore North Carolina’s image by working with the General Assembly to pass comprehensive non-discrimination protections including sexual orientation and gender identity.”

According to the Human Rights Campaign, the governor’s chief of staff initially met with the three advocates upon delivery of the letter. Although staff at first would only allow Griffin and Sgro to meet with McCrory, the staff relented and allowed Cox-Daniels to take part, the Human Rights Campaign said.

“Despite the fact that he was reluctant to meet with me, I hope that Gov. McCrory took to heart my personal story and the very real harm this law is inflicting on North Carolina’s transgender community,” Cox-Daniels said. “The people of North Carolina are looking for the governor to show the leadership needed to repeal this appalling law.”

McCrory has previously defended House Bill 2 as means to protect privacy in the state, despite assertions by transgender residents they’re now forced to use a restroom at odds with their appearance, and has accused the law’s opponents of launching a “smear campaign” against North Carolina.

Josh Ellis, a McCrory spokesperson, doubled-down on the assertion North Carolina is being targeted by a smear campaign in a statement confirming the meeting took place.

“There’s no doubt there is a well-coordinated, national campaign to smear our state’s reputation after we passed a common-sense law to ensure no government can take away our basic expectations of privacy in bathrooms, locker rooms and showers,” Ellis said. “Gov. McCrory appreciated the opportunity to sit down and deal with these complex issues through conversation and dialogue as opposed to political threats and economic retaliation.”

The Human Rights Campaign has made public a video of the LGBT advocates speaking with the governor’s chief of staff to seek a meeting with McCrory. In the video, Griffin is given a chance to meet with the governor alone, but insists representatives from other groups take part.

The Washington Blade has placed a call in with McCrory’s office seeking a readout of the meeting. A spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign said he doesn’t have information on what McCrory said in response to the advocates’ demands.

Chad Griffin Chris Sgro House Bill 2 North Carolina

Chris Johnson

Chris Johnson is Chief Political & White House Reporter for the Washington Blade. Johnson attends the daily White House press briefings and is a member of the White House Correspondents' Association. Follow Chris

Brian’s Ions

The McCrory agenda…
(1) Look reasonable and tolerant for cams.
(2) Press to end boycott.
(3) Nod. Sound reasonable and tolerant.
(4) Press to end boycott.
(5) Promise better future cooperation.
(6) Press to end boycott.
(7) Give HRC nothing else.
(8) Press to end boycott.
(9) Buh bye, suckers.
Atomicrob

And, what was the result of the meeting that will substantively alter the enactment of this heinous legislation? Has Griffin met with the Governor of Mississippi before he signs their anti-LGBT Bill into law? Griffin once again appears reactive, not proactive.
- customartist
  
  And where is his candidate Hillary Clinton as these hurtful laws become reality?
- Ernie Hughes
  
  You have to be in front of these issues, you can’t let them pass then try to retract them, they’ll fight twice as hard to hold on in the aftermath!
customartist

Governor McCrory and the Legislature have smeared their OWN State’s reputation. They own their actions.

You’ve heard of ‘Taxation without representation’. Well here we have ‘Oppression without representation’. We HAVE NO representation in the legislature. These Legislators have no real understanding of LGBT people, and especially Transgendered people, at all. They do not try to understand. How can they possibly legislate fairly? The Governor and the Legislature have surely never even met a Trans person.

And then we have the issue of Blatant Dishonesty. Governor McCrory lies in public statements that he calls “Truth versus Lies”, INTENDING to mislead the voting public.

In one Press Conference McCrory answered the First question saying that he had no information on the affects of the law on local laws, but then later in answering the Third question he said that there WAS NO affect on local laws [paraphrased]. He contradicted himself from question 1 to question 3. It’s difficult to be consistent when one lies.

These Politicians simply do not care. These are the “Christian” Right.
Brian’s Ions

Mayor Bowser is *STILL* Ignoring NC’s anti-LGBT Hate Law– While Other States, Cities Ban Employees Travel to NC…
including CT, NY, VT WA and the cities of Boston, Chicago, New York, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, West Pam Beach Boston, Chicago, New York, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, West Pam Beach.

Why is the mayor of the Nation’s Capital, Muriel Bowser, not rigorously standing by the nation’s LGBTs in an hour of peril for LGBT civil rights laws– and in a state so nearby to DC?

Bowser has been utterly silent on this issue. Why???

LOS ANGELES TIMES
LGBT rights are being stripped away across the U.S. Here’s how Democrats can stop it
…
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-lgtb-civil-rights-north-carolina-20160331-story.html
—
Veto of South Dakota transgender bathroom bill shows boycotts work
…
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/la-ol-south-dakota-trans-bill-boycotts-work-lgbt-community-20160303-story.html
Brian’s Ions

On Friday, DC Mayor Bowser ordered Washington to join New York, Chicago and five other major cities in banning non-essential governmental travel to the GOP’s newest hate state creation, N. Carolina.

It is important that city mayors like de Blasio, Emanuel and Bowser have highlighted non-discrimination best practices for their city governments, because what those three municipalities do have much wider ripple effects across American corporate and institutional B2B consumers as well.

State tourism bureaus throughout the country know well the huge amount of business and association convention/ seminar/ meetings dollars that flow– directly and indirectly– through New York, Washington and Chicago every year.

Beyond business, trade and fraternal associations, few other major employers will want to do business in, or with, the hate state that HB2 has created. That is not something that well run companies want to inflict upon their LGBT managers and employees — and their families.

So North Carolina’s economy will soon be losing tens of millions of dollars every year– at least. That is, until NC repeals HB2 — AND — replaces it with a statewide LGBT civil rights law– for assured justice and for credibility sake.

Kudos to Wells Fargo and Bank of America– and all the other NC businesses fighting anti-LGBT hate state politics from the inside.

But the boycott must continue until meaningful and credible change is achieved.
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