North Carolina could lose $20 million pharma factory over HB2
North Carolina could lose a factory from a pharmaceutical company which would bring $20 million to the state, over HB2.
HB2 was passed in North Carolina earlier this month, in a move which voided local LGBT protection laws, and banned local authorities from re-introducing them.
The Attorney General of North Carolina earlier this week said he will not defend the new law that bans LGBT protections if it’s taken to court.
Roy Cooper has said that he believes the legislation is discriminatory and it should be repealed.
North Carolina has been urged to pull HB2 by the CEOs of over a hundred corporations including Facebook, Reddit, Google, PayPal, eBay, Twitter, Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, LinkedIn, Intel, Yelp, Barnes & Noble, Starbucks, Starwood Hotels, Marriott, and a number of banks.
In addition, New Jersey’s Braeburn Pharmaceuticals said it is “reevaluating our options on the recent, unjust legislation”, deciding whether to build the $20 million manufacturing and research base in Durham County.
If Braeburn pulls the factory, it will take with it the 50 jobs, paying an average of $76,000 each.
Governor McCrory sat down with human rights activist today who brought with them the letter signed by over 100 business leaders.
The governor “appreciated the opportunity to sit down and deal with these complex issues through conversation and dialogue as opposed to political threats and economic retaliation,” his spokesman, Josh Ellis, said in a statement.
Also today it was announced that County Clerk-turned-jailbird Kim Davis’ lawyers from the Liberty Counsel had offered to defend the law, as the state’s Attorney General said he thought it was unlawful.
The new law, signed into law by Republican Governor Pat McCrory, bans transgender students in public schools from using their preferred bathroom.
Related: This trans man blew away North Carolina’s new bigoted law with just one picture
McCrory’s decision has attracted a legal challenge as well as a growing boycott of the state – with two of the largest cities in the US opting to ban travel to the North Carolina.
In close succession, the Mayor of San Francisco Ed Lee, Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced travel bans.
Davis, who served five days in jail last year for refusing to allow gay couples to marry, shocked opponents this year when she came out against proposals to segregate Kentucky’s marriage licences.
