OPEN LETTER to Governor Pat McCrory for his Support and Defense of HB2 ("Public Facilities Privacy & Safety Act") | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Governor Pat McCrory
    20301 Mail Service Center
    Raleigh, NC 27699-0301

    Dear Governor McCrory,

    I am writing with a heartfelt THANK YOU for standing for common sense, standing for the constitutional protections of privacy, and perhaps most of all, for standing with conviction and exemplifying the courage one rarely sees in a politician these days. I am, of course, referring to your readiness and willingness to address the bathroom ordinance passed by the Charlotte legislature and pass HB2.

    I know you and the entire state of North Carolina is coming under attack from the liberals for your stance in this matter. I know that the mayor of San Francisco, Edwin Lee, has banned flights for city employees from SF to North Carolina in protest, as did the mayors of NYC and Seattle. I know that New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo has also banned non-essential flights to North Carolina for state employees in protest over the bill. And Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin and Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy have done the same. I know that director Rob Reiner has called for a boycott among filmmakers not to film in our state until HB2 is repealed. Wow, the wave of intolerance is strong. But waves that crash on rock do no damage and cause no erosion.

    The point is that none of these individuals live in our state and how dare they try to engage in coercion to change our laws and policies. Decisions that affect the day-to-day conditions of our lives here in our own state should rightfully be made by us who live here, and by our representatives. And other states ought to respect those decisions. It's one of the hallmarks of a federation of sovereign states. Let's not forget that in 1973, when California legalized marijuana, North Carolina didn't issue any boycotts in protest. In fact, there were no boycotts at all issued by states who did not agree with California's decision. North Carolina and other states respected California's right. And recently when California enacted an extreme gun control law, again North Carolina stood silent. North Carolina, a state that has a deep respect and affection for our Bill of Rights and especially for the big daddy of them all, the second amendment, could have easily acted in protest.

    I know that our state Attorney General, Roy Cooper, an avowed liberal who believes strongly in gay marriage, not only refused to enforce the state constitutional amendment that passed overwhelmingly in our state defining marriage as between a man and a woman but now refuses to enforce HB2. He has publicly called our state an "embarrassment." The truth is that HE, a man elected as Attorney General to defend the laws of the state who has not done so, taking an oath to perform the duties of that office yet violating it over and over again, taking a paycheck while he has essentially done nothing in performance of the duties of his office, and then turning his back on the great majority of the North Carolinians is the real definition of an embarrassment. Roy Cooper is an embarrassment to the state and to the government of this state. Why is this man still in office and why does he continue to collect a paycheck? Where are the articles of impeachment to remove him and give us a vacant office (pretty much what it is with him IN IT). The people of the state are entitled to a public servant that carries out his or her function. Governor McCrory, you were right when you said that Mr. Roy Cooper was elected to do a job and that "he is an attorney first and a politician second."

    Hypocritically, Cooper and his kind want to force OTHER officials into doing their job - such as issue marriage licenses to homosexuals, despite political and religious differences - but as for themselves, they believe they can refuse to carry out their elected responsibilities for the same reasons.

    The bottom line is that the people expect their laws to be defended and someone will need to take this one on, with all the energy, sincerity, legal know-how, and passion that it takes.

    We face an uphill battle in trying to remain a normal state with normal, natural-law values and trying to fight off the degenerate policies of liberals and progressives (and the LGBT community) who would love to see the entire country become like the biblical dens of iniquity, Sodom and Gomorrah. Biological confusion, biological rejection, massive sexual experimentation, and the unfettered personal freedom to live life as one sees fit without regard to boundaries, natural or social.... These are the goals of the progressives and liberals. By-products of such lifestyles are just collateral damage that we must all live with. But certain things are worth fighting for because the society that results is the one that will prove most successful.

    The condemnation and the protests..... these will pass. If we don't start standing up issue by issue, then North Carolina becomes no better than places like San Francisco and New York City, and neither place provides the safety and comfort needed to encourage and embrace family values and all the wonderful things that come with the proper focus on the family. Governor McCrory, you are doing a wonderful job in sticking up for HB2 and explaining it truthfully and fairly. Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest is also doing an outstanding job defending it.

    You mentioned that other states and some politicians are calling our state an embarrassment. I contend that when such states and when such politicians attack our policies, then we should be consoled in the fact that we are doing the right thing. North Carolina is NOT California. North Carolina is NOT New York. North Carolina is NOT Vermont. North Carolina is NOT Washington. North Carolinians have different values than San Franciscans. North Carolinians have different values than New Yorkers. There are communities of people all across this country defined by the values they embrace and wish to live by. And they are entitled to live by, as long as they don't discriminate in violation of the long-settled principles solidified in our Constitution. How have we as a body of people been allowed to tolerate bathroom facilities separating on account of biological gender differences all these great many years? Clearly there have been no constitutional violations. A one-size-fits-all society is not what we want in this country. We want differences so that people, as diverse as we are, can find the place - using our constitutionally protected ability to be mobile - that allows us to live as faithfully and as comfortably with respect to our values. People forced to live in a changing environment where they must hide their values, apologize for them, be ashamed of them, and worse, live in contradiction to them are people ripe for discontent and hatred. A state that respects the values embraced by nature, that stands up for the values that promote wholesome family and gender values, a state respects the voice of the majority of its people (so that the minority cannot force their demands on others who are not ready for them), that refuses to engage in the type of cultural transformation of places like San Francisco and others that put individuality and selfishness before proper guidelines, embedded in natural law, for the good of society and its bedrock foundation, and that does not back down from the bullies of this country...... is NOT an embarrassment. It is an example.

    As an attorney, I agree with your assessment of HB2. It is a common-sense bill that invokes no constitutional protection for the groups that are attacking it. The bill protects men, women, and children when they use restrooms, lockers, and showers. Individuals have a basic expectation of privacy in these areas. In fact, I would argue that there is a heightened expectation of privacy in these areas. Individuals have a right not to feel uncomfortable, traumatized, nervous, or scared when they enter a bathroom for biological purposes. They have a right to feel protected when they shed their clothing in locker rooms and in shower areas. The bill protects the elderly and the young who are most vulnerable to intimidation and fear. They are the ones who most assuredly need protection. Governor, you are correct when you say that this right must be protected and secured. If the very governing body of a state cannot protect a child or a grandmother in an area traditionally set aside for only members of society biologically identical to them, sharing similar concerns, functions, and risks, then that governing body should dissolve in favor of one that is able to protect its citizens.

    A doctor who operates on a male (regardless of his "identification") will need certain operating implements and gadgets to do the job. Just because that person may "identify" as another gender does not somehow change the reality that physically there are differences that require separate attention.

    HB2 requires that requires that public bathrooms or changing facilities (locker rooms and/or showers) to be designated for and only those persons based on their biological sex; that is, the sex identified on their birth certificate. This bill only reasserts the status quo. It makes sure that the current situation - the one that has existed for over one hundred years - continues to remain as such. Without this bill and having the possibility of other cities and towns adopting the radical plan put forth by the Charlotte legislature, would expose the overwhelming majority of people to traumatization in an area that they should feel most comfortable.

    Last year started a movement to demonize the Confederate flag and in fact, all symbols and names that are associated with the antebellum South and the Civil War. [I'm referring to the movement that was independent of the flag's removal from the state capitol in SC]. All of a sudden, the flag and all such symbols, monuments, historical figures, street names, etc were deemed to only have ONE meaning, and that meaning was one of hatred. I watched and read time after time as a mayor or town official, or college student, or African-American citizen cried "trauma" and "discomfort" at having to lay his or her eyes on the flag, a monument, a street sign, a building name, etc etc. I imagined them convulsing, vomiting, and having to be hospitalized with live-giving fluids delivered to their failing veins. But no, they were healthy as can be. They were just exercising a misguided freedom to personally feel shielded from a message they didn't care to see. Now, most of these individuals, of course (and clearly) have no clue about history. But governing body after governing body gave in. The right of one person not to be traumatized was treated as paramount to the overwhelming majority of people to embrace or be reminded of the history of our country.

    I see this as an analogy, to some degree. We must respect the right of biologically-oriented people NOT to feel traumatized when they use a public restroom, locker room, or shower. This is simply common sense. Imagine the trauma and confusion that a young child will suffer? A young girl is taught not to talk to a stranger that is of a different sex. A young girl is taught that there are differences between herself and someone like her daddy. We teach our children about the proper roles they are to assume in the school system (because, after all, a boy who dares put his arm around a girl simply to show affection can be sent home with a charge of assault) and the role that gender plays in society and in rightful expectations. What about the parent who is trying to teach her child about biology and nature and the natural order of life? How can a child reconcile what she NEEDS to learn (for her safety and protection) with what she might confront in a public bathroom? What about the trauma a grandmother will feel? The fear as well?

    There are reports all over the internet of assaults, rapes, videoing, and uncomfortable situations when men "pretending" to be gender-confused go into a women's bathroom. All one needs to do is simply research them. It is far too easy for a male to pretend to be gender-confused to gain entry into a woman's bathroom in order to do something that is less than legitimate or legal. He can film what he sees (and there are very secret ways to do that) or he can force himself on unsuspecting females. He can also rob them because they have let their guard down or because they are temporarily away from their purse, their mace, and their purchases. [Jay Delancy of the Voter Integrity Project, has posted several of these incidents, for example]. The only conceivable scenario where a male should be allowed to enter a women's restroom, locker room, and shower is when he has been surgically altered and is on hormone therapy to officially change his gender. That is the only REAL way to "identify" as a woman. That would provide the only reasonable confidence to show that the person identifies as a woman and that the associated intent is there.

    Finally, should bathrooms become open to individuals of a different biological identity, I believe patrons will not want to use the restroom lest they be made to feel uncomfortable. I have been in a public bathroom in a mall that was marked "Ladies" and watched as a male emerged from one of the stalls. There was nothing about the individual to comfort the women and teen girls in the bathroom that he/she was "identifying" as a female. All we knew was that he was a male, looked like a male, was zipping up his pants as he walked out of the stall, and he was in the women's room. It was unsettling and my daughters and I immediately left. We felt uncomfortable and uneasy. We should have never been put in that situation. We opted to leave the mall and go somewhere else to get a bite to eat so that we could eventually take care of nature (take care of business) in a more private setting. I believe patrons will wait to go home to use the restroom and they will use the food court areas less frequently so as not to have to use the restrooms. Hence, their time in malls, etc will be shortened. Eventually, with policies as the LGBT desire and as the progressives and liberals who support the Charlotte initiative desire, people will begin retreating into their own homes or the homes and meeting places of people they feel comfortable with and reverse discrimination will tacitly result. Such policies will have a disparate impact on those who believe in a rightful expectation of privacy and who believe that nature, after all, is the immutable basis for life.

    In addition to the provisions related to public/education bathroom, locker, and shower facilities, I want to thank you for the provisions added to the bill which protect business owners/government sub-contractors from the coercion of local laws which they ordinarily would not have to be subject to. The pre-emption provisions - pre-emption from - the pre-emption of local laws that expand the categories of non-discrimination to "sexual orientation" - are the icing on the wonderful cake that is HB2. I truly believe you showed your commitment and respect to the business community by: (1) recognizing and emphasizing that HB2 does not affect them and they are free to handle the bathroom situation as they see fit; and (2) making sure they are not subject to local laws that force them to participate in speech with which they do not believe (which underscores the rights recognized in the First Amendment - speech, religion, conscience). The guarantees protected under the First Amendment are firmly-rooted in our history and in our collective conscious and government law (including state) must not force businesses, small or large, or sole proprietors to participate in events or promote an agenda which violate their deeply-held beliefs and their collective conscience. Such a law is a dangerous violation of the First Amendment guarantees of free speech and freedom of religion and they certainly threaten businesses just as acutely as issues such as discrimination and the failure to provide bathroom accessibility to transgenders. Even more telling is what such a law says about our treasured freedoms. It sends a message to the world that we aren't the nation that we claim to be. Hypocrisy may work for others but it shouldn't be an accusation that attaches to the state of North Carolina.

    Thank you again in joining with the NC General Assembly and standing together in a courageous moment of clarity and allegiance to the good people of the state and signing HB2 into law. This mother, parent, attorney, school teacher, and someday soon - grandmother wanted to take this opportunity to express my gratitude and respect. Please, please, please continue to stand firm in the wake of the growing opposition and demonization of our state with respect to HB2.

    Most Sincerely,

    References:

    Language of Bill ("Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act")

    (Governor Pat McCrory)
    (Lieutenant Dan Forest)

    In the following video message, Governor Pat McCrory explains HB2:



    In the following video, Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest defends HB2 on CNBC, dispels the rumors, and explains the facts.



poll#94

Should Americans be thankful for North Carolinians setting precedent in taking a stand for their state's right to manage the safety of their public facilities, where separation of the sexes remains, or should they follow Bruce Springsteen's lead and boycott the state as bigots since they will not allow grown Transgender men to use the same bathrooms /locker rooms as pre-pubescent girls?

  North Carolina is right to control the separation of the sexes as a matter of decorum and safety.

  North Carolina is a bigoted state to not require that children of opposite sexes share the same public facilities with adults of the opposite sex, although misidentified - the Transgender.

  I generally prefer the natural environs of the vacant, although rather public, large tree.

253 total vote(s)     What's your Opinion?