To the Editor:

Sen. Bill Cook threw several “red herrings” into defending his vote yet again for HB2, the infamous legislation passed in the second of five special sessions our GOP-controlled N.C. General Assembly in 2016 — that’s right, five special sessions. But nothing happened in the fifth, taxpayer-funded special session. As agreed, the Charlotte City Council unanimously repealed fully Wednesday morning its earlier LGBT ordinance which had led to the second General Assembly special session and HB2, and the General Assembly had agreed in private sessions of their leaders — Gov. McCrory and Gov.-elect Cooper — to repeal HB2 in return. But due to right-wing opposition, they all, with the exception of our newly elected governor, caved later that day. The bill is not about forcing Sen. Cook’s or anybody’s granddaughter, including mine, to be preyed on in public bathrooms. It is about fairness to people having access to restrooms in state-supported public buildings regardless of their gender identification. Even Vatican City, the Pope’s residence, has such bathrooms! My wife, granddaughter, and I all used a large one with private stalls in June, and didn’t see a single predator lurking thereabout. Maybe Sen. Cook should warn Pope Francis.

“Cook said Democrats don’t really care about what goes on in bathrooms, the loss of industry some people attribute to HB2 and other issues in North Carolina. This is just all politics for them. …” (quoted from WDN article of Dec. 23). My understanding is that the vast majority of Tar Heels, regardless of what religion they belong to or what school they pull for, deeply regret and are embarrassed by this bill and its having caused our state to lose the ACC football, basketball, baseball and soccer playoffs, the NBA All Star game, well-paying employers and respect from most of the rest of our nation. That won’t change until this bill is repealed, and surely Sen. Cook and the rest of the Republicans exercising a stranglehold on our legislature through gerrymandering know that.

Such legislation, ply the recent shenanigans of Sen. Cook, Rep. Speciale and the rest of the GOP super-majority in behaving badly after losing the governorship and the Supreme Court majority, have made us a laughingstock across the nation. Fortunately, the courts have ordered redistricting and further elections in 2017. Maybe a majority of us across the state will wise up, rise up and vote accordingly when given the next opportunity.

 

Rev. Charles M. Smith
Retired United Methodist minister, Washington