Governor Pat McCrory released a video message on Tuesday responding to criticism of House Bill 2 and Attorney General Roy Cooper’s decision not to defend the bill in court.
McCrory released the video amid protest against the bill and threats from national corporations to boycott the state.
McCrory said the bill is a matter of upholding an expectation of privacy and that opponents are speaking out for political gain.
“Unfortunately that has occurred when legislation was passed to protect men, women and children when they use a public restroom, shower or locker room. That is an expectation of privacy that must be honored and respected, instead, North Carolina has been the target of a vicious nationwide smear campaign,” said McCrory in the video.
Opponents of the bill say it rolls back protections for transgender individuals by forcing people to use the bathroom of the sex indicated on their birth certificate rather than their gender identity.
“This is not about demonizing one group of people, in fact, let’s put aside our differences, the political rhetoric and yes a lot of hypocrisy and work on solution that will make this bill better in the future,” said McCrory.
Bank of America has now joined the ranks of companies condemning the bill. The bank joins more than 80 companies whose CEO’s have signed an open letter to Pat McCrory, authored by the Human Rights Campaign, calling for the repeal of House Bill 2.
Other notable companies that have signed the letter include Apple, Google, Pfizer and Facebook, among many others. The NBA said the law could also impact the 2017 NBA All-Star Game, which is planned to be played in Charlotte.
Earlier this week, the governor of Georgia vetoed similar legislation after major companies like Disney and Dell, threaten to pull their businesses out of the state if the legislation passed.
A lawsuit was filed earlier this week by LGBT advocacy groups challenging the legislation.
On Tuesday, Attorney General Roy Cooper said he would not defend House Bill 2 in court. Cooper, a Democrat, is running for governor against McCrory.
Cooper said he will instead defend the Treasurer’s Office nondiscrimination policy, which Cooper said is violated by House Bill 2.
“In order to protect our nondiscrimination policy and employees, along with those of our client, the state treasurer’s office, part of our argument will be that House Bill 2 is unconstitutional,” said Cooper.
McCrory said the attorney general’s obligation was to defend the state.
“When you are the state’s lawyer, you are a lawyer first and a politician second, therefore, I want to encourage the attorney general to reconsider his flawed logic,” said McCrory.
The ACLU has asked that the law be temporarily blocked until the case is heard in court.
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