The Tides Are Turning in North Carolina Bathroom Fight

The tides of North Carolina’s bathroom battle are starting to turn in favor Governor Pat McCrory’s administration, if statements made by various business owners and associations in the state are any indication.

According to a story at The Charlotte Observer, hospitality and tourism leaders, as well as the Charlotte Chamber, are urging state and local leaders to repeal the various ordinances and statutes that led to the current controversy in the first place.

“This is not about politics. This is not about who’s right and who’s wrong,” stated Vinay Patel, CEO of SREE Hotels and a board member of the North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association. “We’ve been caught in a crossfire. … We’re in a crisis, and this is the time to take action.”

While the effort from liberal organizations, individuals, and corporations from both within and outside the state has focused on pressuring McCrory and the Republican legislature to repeal HB2, what N.C. business leaders are calling for in this situation would actually be on the governor’s terms.

A McCrory spokesman said last week that state lawmakers would consider repealing HB2 if the Charlotte City Council — who originally started the controversy — would drop the ordinance that provoked it in the first place.

“For the last nine months, the governor has consistently said state legislation is only needed if the Charlotte ordinance remains in place,” spokesman Josh Ellis said last week, per the Observer.

“If the Charlotte City Council totally repeals the ordinance and then we can confirm there is support to repeal among the majority of state lawmakers … the governor will call a special session,” he continued. “It is the governor’s understanding that legislative leaders … agree with that assessment.”

The idea is, of course, not a popular one with the LGBT lobby, members of which still believe that McCrory should be the one to flinch — rather than have the state return to the status quo pre bellum.

“Repealing Charlotte’s ordinance would be a step backward for equality, inclusion and fairness,” stated Simone Bell, southern regional director for the gay rights group Lambda Legal.

“Nondiscrimination policies like Charlotte’s are good and necessary measures that protect the LGBT community,” Bell said in a statement, issued Sunday.

It’s unclear whether or not Monday’s meeting of the Charlotte City Council will yield any developments toward returning North Carolina to a state of pre-transgender bathroom normalcy, but McCrory’s example presents a big, fat, teachable moment for conservative lawmakers who end up besieged by cultural cronyism.

Several concerts, business projects and sports tournaments have been pulled from North Carolina, with concerns like “equality” frequently cited. However, the NBA’s supposed human rights concerns don’t stop it from playing in China; Paypal still does business in countries that execute gays; and the NCAA doesn’t believe in the traditional sexes, but still hasn’t merged its male and female leagues. But I digress.

Pat McCrory wasn’t the first governor to fall victim to these tactics over a common-sense provision in state law. Just look at what happened in Arizona, Indiana, and Georgia when those states tried to pass basic religious freedom laws. The LGBT lobby and their big business cronies swarmed the states in an Alinsky-esque effort to get the laws repealed. And in each situation, it worked.

Jan Brewer (R) of Arizona and Nathan Deal of Georgia (R) both vetoed their respective laws, while Indiana’s governor-turned-Trump-running-mate Mike Pence eventually signed into law a “compromise” that has drawn repeated criticism and serious concern from First Amendment advocates.

McCrory and GOP legislators in Raleigh have broken this mold so far, it would seem. Despite every single boycott effort imaginable, they’ve refused to cave to the Left’s public pressure and misinformation campaign. Now voices outside the administration — the very kind of people the cronies were trying to turn against the administration — are now calling for exactly the kind of situation the governor et al. wanted in the first place.

True to his state’s nickname from the start, McCrory has provided an example of what conservative leaders are capable of accomplishing if they’re simply willing to prudently expend political capital, ignore the demonizing, and stand up to those who prefer to push their agendas with lies and mafia-like tactics.

Now it’s on the Charlotte City Council to decide whether or not they want to call off what they started, or continue to blame Pat McCrory for taking a stand for safety and common sense in response. (For more from the author of “The Tides Are Turning in North Carolina Bathroom Fight” please click HERE)

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