Austin Vinson

WRD 111
Dr. Allison Palumbo
May 31, 2016
C2: Debates Overview
In the world today there are controversial things that happen every single day.
Throughout the United States there is a lot of controversy surrounding House bill 2 in North
Carolina. The bill was put in place to women and children from being hunted or captured by
predators. People in the state of North Carolina are dealing with the issues of losing money for
their business because of this bill. It is also affecting fans of musicians because they are refusing
to come here and perform. The residents of North Carolina are split in how they feel about this
bill, therefore I will be digging deeper to see how different citizens feel, and how it affects them.
Businesses see themselves losing money at a ridiculous amount since this new bill has
been passed, and now they have decided to speak out and fight against it. One problem that arose
from the new bill was the NCAA threatened to pull the NCAA tournament from the state for the
next two years. That would be over twenty games that the state could lose. The NCAA came out
with a statement that said, well continue to monitor current events, which include issues
surrounding diversity, in all cities bidding on NCAA championships and events, as well as cities
that have already been named as future host sites, the organization said in a statement. Our
commitment to the fair treatment of all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation or gender
identity, has not changed and is at the core of our NCAA values. It is our expectation that all
people will be welcomed and treated with respect in cities that host our NCAA championships

and events. Also, the CEO of Salesforce has come out strong opposing the bill in the public. His
main goal is to get the CEO of Bank of America to speak out, this would help their cause greatly
because Bank of America being one of the largest businesses in the state. If this happens all of
the businesses who spoke out against it believe that they can get this bill reversed. If this bill is
not reversed and these businesses go through with what they say then the loss of money for the
state could be catastrophic. All of these businesses are being backed up by a large portion of the
North Carolina Community. They started protesting and havent stopped since the new bill was
put in place. (Reilly)
Although it seems like most businesses have come out against House Bill 2 there are still
a fair share of businesses who support it. The business that has spoken out the strongest about
this has been the North Carolina value coalition. As soon as the bill was passed they came out
immediately and praised the governor of North Carolina, Pat McCrory for pushing this through.
They believe that the safety of businessmen and women and their children is what should be the
priority and the governor did that. Not only does this business believe it was the right move they
think that this makes businesses in North Carolina stronger. Giving the businesses the freedom to
feel comfortable at work and be able to work in a safe environment. (NC values coalition). The
owner of OmniChannel Productions in Charlotte has also came out in support of the bill. Ralph
Henderson who is the owner said, We can set non-discrimination policies, hiring practices. We
can set them for internal HR procedures, and I just think this is best for business. OmniChannel
along with over three hundred other business have come out supporting the governor by signing
a letter thanking him. Most of these businesses coming out in support say that they have very
strong anti-discrimination policies but this violates them in no way. They think these policies
should not be dictated by a law and this is why they are supporting the governor. The major

businesses in support say that if people would just take some time to read the whole bill they
would understand why it was passed and it would not be as angry.
Another way this bill has affected the state was in the entertainment industry. Many
musicians have spoken out against the bill and refused to perform here. One of the most popular
musicians that have come out against the bill was Bruce Springsteen. He cancelled his show that
was supposed to take place in Greensboro, North Carolina which was actually one of the things
that brought the issue to a national level. He also called for other musicians to take a stand
against the state and also and cancel their shows too. The big name musicians who listened to
Springsteen and decided to cancel their shows were Pearl Jam, Boston, Demi Lovato, Nick
Jonas, Ringo Star, and Ani DiFranco. When Ani DiFranco decided to cancel her concert she
expected to have to pay a fee for backing out instead the venue decided that was not necessary
and she said that just validated her position. (NPR)
Other singers have decided not to cancel their tour stops in North Carolina even though
they are still saying they are not in support of the bill. This is what seems to be the other side of
the musicians who are cancelling their shows. Although these singers and bands still decided to
come to North Carolina they also decided to donate money to LBGT nonprofits. They have done
this with the help of the North Carolina Needs You mission. This was made so that they could
convince musicians to still come to the state and at the same time connecting them with a local
organization that is fighting against HB2 so they can donate money. This initiative believes that it
is good for the musicians to come here and show support because their voice will be heard more.
Also that the citizens of the state need them to help them feel and to see in person that someone
is on their side. The bands speaking out in favor of this see how important it is for them to be
here. They have said they need to stick their neck out and realize they need to use their fame for

good. With the platform that they have they believe they can really make a difference by showing
up to these venues and making their voices heard.(NPR)
Politicians on the republican side have decided to stand up and support House Bill 2
along with part of the community. The republicans have decided to join along with religious
groups and rally in support of the bill. These leaders stood up and gave speeches about how this
is the best thing for the state of North Carolina and what will keep us safe. Thousands of
republicans attended the rally in support of this bill. Multiple republican politicians have joined
forces with the Christian Actions League and the Values Coalition. One of the big republicans
that have been supporting this bill is Senator Buck Newton. He says that he is not worried at all
about how he would be perceived by the public. He said that he stands by his Christian beliefs,
and that why he supports this bill.
On the other hand most democrats have been adamant that this bill is wrong for the state
and that it needs to be repealed. The democrats of the state drafted an anti-discrimination bill to
respond to House Bill 2. They decided to name it the equality for all act and they say that it is to
help protect every citizen in the state from discrimination. They say that in the bill they covered
every type of discrimination possible. There are also a group of republicans who have come out
against the new bill. They created a website that shows their support for the bill using the slogan
small town, not small minded. This website urges people to think about what they believe is
right and to help support the move to repeal this as soon as possible.
Many communities in the small parts of North Carolina have shown their support for
House bill 2. The people in these towns say they would not feel comfortable if they had to use
the same bathroom as someone who does not share the same body parts. The people think that it
is not the right of these people to try and force them into something that they do not believe in.

One citizen from a small town stated, Everybodys got a right to be whatever they want, but
they have no right to push it on us. When the bill was passed there were only a total of 11
democrats who decided to vote in favor of House Bill 2. Every single one of these came from
one of the small towns. Every single one of these voters also stated that they made this decision
based on their religious values and beliefs. It seems as though the citizens who feel strongly
about this also felt very strongly about banning same sex marriage in the state based on the
numbers. The main reason that the people are against this law is because they feel it puts their
safety in jeopardy, and the main people they are worried about are their children and their wives.
The worry is that it would be too easy for a predator to dress up and take advantage of one of
your loved ones. This would just be one more thing for parents to worry about.
Some citizens however feel the opposite way, a group of local writers joined together to dispute
the bill. They decided to start up a fundraiser and donate all of the money to help fight this bill.
They are calling for more authors to join in on the fight because they believe that this will help
speed the process up. They authors have been speaking out whenever they go to a reading and
encouraging the crowd to join their fight and donate money to their cause. Also all of the book
signing events that these authors are going to the money will be donated to their fundraiser.
Throughout the state there are many controversies surrounding this new bill. The issues
will not be solved until somehow the two sides can come together and find a middle ground. For
that to happen all of these issues will have to reach some kind of outcome. Most people who
know something about the situation though believe that there is no way to make everyone happy.
From the research it seems as though mostly people from out of the state are angered while the
citizens of North Carolina are happier about the bill. Soon though there will be a point where the
arguing has stopped, and both sides can at least be content.

Works Cited
Campbell, Colin. "House Bill 2 Finds Support from Many in Rural NC
Communities." Newsobserver. N.p., 9 Apr. 2016. Web. 31 May 2016.
Campbell, Colin. "NC Republicans Embrace Pro-HB2 Religious Groups; Democrats Distant
from NAACP's Barber." Newsobserver. N.p., 30 Apr. 2016. Web. 31 May 2016.
Gov McCrory Signs Bathroom Bill." NC Values Coalition. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2016.
Hyland, Michael. "Businesses on Both Sides of House Bill 2 Weigh in on Issue." WNCN. N.p.,
29 Mar. 2016. Web. 31 May 2016.
Moses, Desire. "In North Carolina, Musicians Face off against HB2." N.p., 6 May 2016. Web. 31
May 2016.
Neal, Dale. "Local Writers Join in Fundraiser against HB2." Citizen Times. N.p., 28 Apr. 2016.
Web. 31 May 2016.
Reilly, Molly. "Businesses Are Joining the Fight against North Carolina's Anti LGBT
Law." Huffington Post. N.p., 24 Mar. 2016. Web. 31 May 2016.