Thursday, March 23, 2017

TIMELINE: Wishing a Not-So-Happy Birthday To That Hellish House Bill #2

Posted By and on Thu, Mar 23, 2017 at 7:39 PM

click to enlarge Hunter Schafer (left) and Miquel Rodrigues of Raleigh protest the North Carolina General Assembly during a special session on Wednesday, Dec. 21. (Photo by James Willamoor)
  • Hunter Schafer (left) and Miquel Rodrigues of Raleigh protest the North Carolina General Assembly during a special session on Wednesday, Dec. 21. (Photo by James Willamoor)

So today, we decided to give our intern Jasmine a crash course education on that plague that is House Bill 2 by asking her to construct a quick timeline of all the reactions and effects of the law on our state — its people and its economy — since its passing one year ago today.

Hours later, she sent the following list, with only one exasperated comment to go alongside it: "Holy shit, that was a lot."

Even for us folks who were closely covering it all along, this list brings back some bad memories we had buried elsewhere. But we also know some stuff is missing. We plan to go more in depth with this shell of a timeline, and continue to add to it as the year progresses. So take to the comments section below and tell us what we missed.

FEBRUARY 2016

22: Charlotte's City Council adds protections to the city's nondiscrimination ordinance that include sexual orientation and gender identity. Gov. Pat McCrory, Charlotte's former mayor, had warned city councilmen that if they did this, the state would intervene.

MARCH


3: In a press conference, Republican legislators balk at the Charlotte ordinance, turning their ire on provisions that allow transgender people to use the bathroom of their gender identity; the Republicans vow to hold a special session to overturn the ordinance, and one senator comments, “the city council of Charlotte has lost its mind.”

23: In one day, the NC General Assembly passes HB2, which goes well beyond the "bathroom" aspect of the Charlotte ordinance, nullifying all nondiscrimination ordinances statewide, effectively allowing overt discrimination against transgender people, and even prohibiting local governments from setting fair employment standards; hours later, McCrory signs the bill into law.

click to enlarge More than 100 people gathered in front of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center on March 24 to protest the passing of HB2. (Photo by Ryan Pitkin)
  • More than 100 people gathered in front of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center on March 24 to protest the passing of HB2. (Photo by Ryan Pitkin)

24: Lionsgate Entertainment Corp. moves production of a new show, a Hulu original series named Crushed,​ out of Charlotte weeks before it was set to begin.

28: The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority publishes statement voicing concern about customers “negative feedback and potential event cancellations” in response to legislation. Later, announces that it has lost 13 conventions following the passage of HB2.

29: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo bans non-essential state travel to North Carolina. The American Civil Liberties Union files a lawsuit asking courts to overturn HB2.

29: CEOs of more than 80 companies write open letter to Gov. McCrory urging repeal. Companies include Apple, Coca-Cola, Facebook, Time Warner Cable, Yahoo, United Airlines, IBM and Visa.

31: ​Stephen Schwartz, composer of ​Wicked, prohibits any of his musicals from being performed in North Carolina.

APRIL

1: Google Ventures pledges not to invest in North Carolina companies until law is repealed.

2: Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton bans all non-essential business travel to North Carolina.

5: PayPal Holdings cancels company expansion plans for Charlotte.

8: Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed bans non-essential city travel to North Carolina; Bruce Springsteen cancels April 10 Greensboro show, the first of many artists to follow.

12: Deutsche Bank financial services announces it is freezing planned expansion in Cary until bill is amended.

13: Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr cancels June 18 concert in Cary.

14: Mumford and Sons donates all profits from show to local LGBTQ organization

18: Pearl Jam cancels April 20 show in Raleigh.

25: Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas cancel dates for dual tour.

MAY

9: Attorney General Loretta Lynch announces U.S. Department of Justice and the Obama administration is filing a federal civil rights lawsuit against North Carolina on grounds that HB2 is “impermissibly discriminatory.”

20:​ ​Maroon 5 cancels September shows scheduled for Charlotte and Raleigh.

JUNE

4: Cyndi Lauper performs in Raleigh, donates all proceeds to Equality North Carolina’s efforts to repeal HB2.

JULY

13: Men’s basketball game between Duke and Albany is cancelled due to NY Gov. Cuomo’s travel decision.

21: NBA pulls 2016-2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte.

AUGUST

1: Federal Judge Thomas Schroeder blocks HB2 in the case of a faculty member and two students at University of North Carolina, allowing them to use the bathroom of the gender with which they identify while on campus.

SEPTEMBER

12: NCAA announces it is pulling seven national championship games from North Carolina

14: ACC moves all neutral site championship games out of North Carolina.

OCTOBER

25: CoStar Group Inc. real estate company chooses Richmond, Va., over Charlotte for firm expansion because of HB2.

DECEMBER

20: Charlotte City Council repeals major protections of nondiscrimination ordinance in an attempted negotiation with state legislature to repeal the bill.

click to enlarge Students with Campus Pride protest the recent action of city leaders and inaction of state leaders on Dec. 22 in Charlotte. (Photo by Ryan Pitkin)
  • Students with Campus Pride protest the recent action of city leaders and inaction of state leaders on Dec. 22 in Charlotte. (Photo by Ryan Pitkin)

21: The state legislature fails to follow through on promises to repeal HB2 in return for Charlotte’s repeal of its ordinance.

JANUARY 2017

26: NC Senate leader Phil Berger says a "clean repeal" of HB2 is unlikely in 2017 legislative session.

FEBRUARY

1: NC Sen. Jeff Jackson files a bill for full repeal of HB2.

9: House Democrats file a bill for clean repeal, adding a “protected status,” defined as “a person’s race, color, national origin, religion, age, disability, sex, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity, military or veteran status, or genetic information.”

MARCH

21: NC Sen. (and Charlotte mayoral hopeful) Joel Ford files bill for an HB2 repeal that would include one of those infamous "cooling-off periods," which mandates that cities cannot pass any ordinances regarding restroom access until 30 days after the current legislative session.

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