IBM warns North Carolina over bill to void LGBT protections
Software giant IBM has issued a statement warning North Carolina that it will continue to adhere to strict nondiscrimination policies.
IBM issued the statement in response to the passing of HB2 into law.
The bill actively voided any pre-existing local ordinances protecting LGBT rights, and banned local authorities from passing new ones.
The statement from the company reads: “IBM is opposed to discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, or age. Our company has had an explicit policy of non-discrimination based on gender identity or expression since 2002.
“We are disappointed by the passage of HB2 in the North Carolina General Assembly because this measure will reduce, rather than expand, the scope of anti-discrimination protection in the state. IBM will continue to follow its global non-discrimination policies in the workplace, and believes that an inclusive and welcoming environment is the best way to attract talented individuals to our company.”
On Wednesday the US state of North Carolina passed the law which voids all local ordinances protecting LGBT rights.
The bill, HB 2, which was passed by the General Assembly with 83-24, and after only three hours of debate.
The Senate also passed the bill, which will went to Governor Pat McCrory.
As he called for the legislation, the Governor signed the bill, shortly after it was passed.
“The basic expectation of privacy in the most personal of settings, a restroom or locker room, for each gender was violated by government overreach and intrusion by the mayor and city council of Charlotte,” McCrory said in a statement, adding that the local ordinances “defy common sense and basic community norms.”
Dozens chanted “shut it down” outside McCrory’s mansion at a protest arranged for last night.
Orange Is The New Black star Laverne Cox also tweeted, saying “I am so disappointed in the governor and legislature of North Carolina. Overturn #HB2,” she tweeted.
Going on, she said: “Stay strong. This law is clearly unconstitutional and will not survive a court challenge. Let’s let this mobilise us.”
Last year IBM warned Louisiana to scrap an anti-LGBT ‘religious freedom’ bill.
