Of course San Francisco won’t tolerate the guidelines that North Carolina lawmakers set for their state. After all, San Francisco is home to the Folsom Street Fair, where live homosexual acts are permitted on public streets (warning: graphic pictures on the link). Apparently laws relating to accepted standards of privacy in society mean nothing to the residents of San Francisco.
SF Mayor Ed Lee
Via SF Gate: San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has banned city workers from non-essential travel to North Carolina after that state approved legislation preventing anti-discrimination protections for gay, lesbian and transgender people.
Lee said in a statement Friday that residents in the city with a large gay and lesbian population “will not subsidize legally sanctioned discrimination.” He says the new law turns back the clock on civil rights protections.
North Carolina Gov. Pat McGrory signed legislation this week voiding a Charlotte ordinance that would have allowed transgender people to legally use restrooms aligned with their gender identity. The ordinance also would have provided wide protections against discrimination in public accommodations.
The law prevents cities and counties from passing anti-discrimination rules and imposes a statewide standard that leaves out protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The “public accommodations” that the SF Gate article did not elaborate on? Not only does it apply to bathrooms, it also applies to lockers and changing facilities. From CNN: Governor McCrory signed the bill Wednesday night and tweeted, “Ordinance defied common sense, allowing men to use women’s bathroom/locker room for instance. That’s why I signed bipartisan bill to stop it.”
But North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore defended the bill. “One of the biggest issues was about privacy,” Moore said. “The way the ordinance was written by City Council in Charlotte, it would have allowed a man to go into a bathroom, locker or any changing facility, where women are — even if he was a man. We were concerned. Obviously there is the security risk of a sexual predator, but there is the issue of privacy.”
DCG
