My “angry activist” side has mellowed considerably over the past twenty years or so, but this makes me boiling mad. And it makes me even angrier that so few people seem to realize all the implications of what’s happening here.
For those of you who don’t see what the “bathroom ordnance” means to you:
Let’s be clear about what’s really going on. It’s not about “bathroom etiquette” nor is it even specifically about LGBT rights (though it would be evil enough if it WERE about either of these two things). It’s about a gerrymandered state legislature telling the cities of North Carolina that even though they are responsible for basically all the population and economic growth in the state, they are unfit to govern themselves in a very wide range of areas. And if they step out of line, the legislature will make life miserable for them.
Cities in North Carolina (and their residents) are basically being punished for being insufficiently deferential to the party in power. HB2 is the next logical step after the Charlotte airport controversy, the Greensboro redistricting controversy, the sales tax grab, and any number of smaller initiatives designed to minimize the impact of cities in an increasingly urban state. Urban growth, of course, also means “urban values” which may not be compatible with “traditional North Carolina Republican values.” Therefore, urban growth and economic development it brings are viewed as threats.
If you live in an urban area, this nasty brand of politics will affect you sooner or later, regardless of your sexual orientation or gender identity. Most of these legislators couldn’t care less about who uses which bathroom. Like so many other non-issues in the past century or so, it’s merely a convenient distraction. Stay focused. Don’t fall for it.
Pardon me for sharing what is essentially another Facebook rant. I will try to avoid additional sermons over the weekend. I cannot promise this, however. Like I said, I’m really mad. And I’m also really sad that a state I love is letting something like this happen.
I don’t know I’d even want to give the RWers the rhetorical victory of labeling themselves the only “North Carolina” in this one that a title like “NC versus Urban” implies.
Obviously there’s no shortage of reactionaries in your state, but that’s not *all* there is, and the centrists, liberals, and leftists who live in generally more urban areas of NC are as much North Carolinians as the RWers are, whether the RWers like it or not.
It’s analogous to one of the things that’s always stuck in my craw about RWers and their “American values” line, as if bohemian (and left-leaning working class, etc.) urban neighborhoods haven’t long been part of the USA as well.
Point well taken.