Backlash in South Carolina getting a head start

The South Carolina legislature steps up to the plate today to take its swing at the transgender piñata. Sen. Lee Bright fell in love with North Carolina's Hate Bill 2 before it was even passed.

Bright, who faces three GOP challengers in June, said he's had enough of tolerance if that means "men who claim to be women" going into a bathroom with children.

Gov. Nikki Haley and state business leaders have called the law totally unnecessary.

Sen. Bright is trying to create a political crisis that doesn't exist to save his political career.

--Ted Pitts, Chamber of Commerce

The Palmetto Family Council is so enamored of Bright's law that it imported people from the ironically-named Alliance Defending Freedom to testify.

If the right to privacy means anything, it certainly means that women and girls should not be compelled to undress, shower, or use the restroom in the presence of men. This is just common sense.

--Kellie Fiedorek, ADF

It is transgender people whose safety is at risk. Transgender people face incredible discrimination in the workplace, in schools, and in public places. They face threats and physical assaults in public spaces.

This law perpetuates hateful rhetoric and myths about trans people.

--Melissa Moore, We Are Family

The bill is unlikely to make the May 1 crossover deadline to move from one chamber to the other...and some SC politicians have pledged to block the bill.

I think it’s mean-spirited. I think economically it could be a disaster for our state and look no further than our neighbors in North Carolina and what’s happened.

--Sen. Joel Lourie (D)

Meanwhile the cloud-based financial firm Uphold, which has an openly gay British CEO has announced that it is moving to Los Angeles because of the threat of the bill's passage. The company is valued at $830 million.

I have watched in shock and dismay as legislation has been abruptly proposed or enacted in several states across the union seeking to invalidate the basic protections and rights of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) U.S. citizens.

In recent days, we have been made aware that South Carolina Sen. Lee Bright has introduced a bill largely mirroring North Carolina’s controversial law that blocks local governments from passing LGBT-inclusive anti-discrimination ordinances. As such, we feel compelled to take action to oppose the discrimination being proposed in South Carolina and protect our LGBT employees.

--Anthony Watson

No state passing a “bathroom bill” has reported problems with massive crowds of different genders using each other’s bathrooms, yet the bills are passed just the same.

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Steven D's picture

First in denying human rights for hundreds of years. Hey, it's their heritage.

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott