North Carolina and Mississippi have been facing a tremendous amount of backlash from celebrities, politicians and businesses around the country, after the governors signed a bill discriminating against the LGBTQ community.
The first to take action was Bruce Springsteen. He cancelled his show in Greensboro, North Carolina in order to protest these anti-LGBTQ laws. Other celebrities such as Ringo Starr, the former Beatles member, cancelled his show in Cary, North Carolina that was planned for June 18th.
Jimmy Buffet did not cancel any shows there, but let the state knows he opposed their actions on his blog.
As for Mississippi, Sharon Stone has cancelled her plans to film a movie there and the Canadian music singer Bryan Adams cancelled his concert that was planned for April, 14th.
Pop stars Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas announced Monday they will be canceling their shows in Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina that were apart of their highly anticipated collaboration tour, Honda Civic Tour: Future Now.
“North Carolina’s discriminatory HB2 law is extremely disappointing, and it takes away some of the LGBT community’s most basic rights and protections. But we will not allow this to stop us from continuing to make progress for equality and acceptance,” said Lovato and Jonas in a joint statement.
Multiple companies have also taken action to show they do not agree with the states actions and at the same time put pressure on the state government to change this grotesque and antiquated.
Deutsche Bank responded to the state law by freezing their plan that was inaction to create 250 new jobs in Cary, North Carolina.
PayPal has also cancelled its plans to build a global operations center in Charlotte, North Carolina. This would have provided 400 jobs for the city.
“In Mississippi, companies such as Tyson Foods, MGM Resorts International, Nissan and Toyota, all major employers in the state, have raised objections to the law signed by Gov. Phil Bryant,” wrote the New York Times.
In addition, Washington State, Vermont and New York’s governors have issued and executive order banning travel to Mississippi.
Technology giants such as Facebook, Apple and Google have all signed a letter to the governor of North Carolina asking to repeal the law because it [the laws] are, “bad for our employees and bad for business.” Bank of America also signed this letter, their main headquarters is located in Charlotte.
“We are deeply concerned that this discriminatory law runs counter to our guiding principles of equality and mutual respect and do not yet know what impact it will have on our ability to successfully host the 2017 All-Star Games in Charlotte,” said the NBA in a statement to the state’s officials.
According to The New York Times, “Braeburn Pharmaceuticals said it was ‘extremely disappointed’ and was reconsidering plans to expand a plant in the state that would bring an investment of nearly $20 million and 52 new jobs.”
The reaction by businesses, governors and celebrities is highly necessary and justified. The idea that this is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in this country, or in the year 2016, needs to be publicized and understood. North Carolina and Mississippi are the cause of their own turmoil. Now both state economies and their residents have to suffer because of these discriminatory laws.