NAACP threatens sit-in demos in North Carolina over HB2
The NAACP has threatened sit-in demonstrations in North Carolina if the state doesn’t withdraw the vile HB2.
Last month North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory signed law which voids all local ordinances protecting LGBT rights, as well as permitting businesses to discriminate against LGBT people on the grounds of religious belief.
The new law also bans transgender students in public schools from using their preferred bathroom.
McCrory’s decision has attracted a legal challenge as well as a growing boycott of the state, with over 100 companies slamming the decision.
The same day that the NBA has given an ultimatum to the state to repeal the law or lose the chance to host its 2017 All Star game in Charlotte, the state’s chapter of the NAACP has also given an ultimatum.
The NAACP has said the state has until 21 April to repeal the law, otherwise it will face a number of sit-in demonstrations at its general assembly.
The NAACP North Carolina chapter called the bill ‘Hate Bill 2’.
Reverend William Barber, the president of the state’s NAACP chapter, said: “We are the laughing stock of the whole nation.”
“Hate Bill 2 is the politics of Jesse Helms revisited… It’s not about bathrooms. It’s about oppression,” he went on.
Jesse Helms is a reference to the late North Carolina Senator who was known for opposing the rights of immigrants and people of colour.
Barber has called for a special session to be called for the House and Senate in North Carolina to repeal the law.
The law was passed in a special session in under 24 hours which led some Democrats to walk out of the House, rather than debate it.
The next official session is set to take place on 25 April, the same day on which Barber has called for a sit-in to take place.
“On the 25th, we are calling for people of conscience to come in, and engage in mass sit-ins,” Barber said.
He said the sit in will be “a sign that [like] we sit, this legislation needs to be sat down.”
Dozens of celebrities and hundreds of fans have heaped praise on Bruce Springsteen for speaking out against the law, and for cancelling a concert in the state on principle.
Supporters of the bill, which basically allows discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and which bans local laws protecting LGBT people, have accused Springsteen of using “bully tactics”.
After Springsteen’s announcement, the guitarist from the E Street Band Steven Van Zandt said North Carolina’s anti-LGBT law is like an “evil virus” in explaining why their concert was cancelled for this Sunday.
