North Carolina demands PayPal give back wooden bowl after boycott over anti-LGBT law
North Carolina has demanded PayPal give back a ceremonial wooden bowl, after the company cancelled an expansion over the state’s anti-LGBT law.
North Carolina has lost a string of big investment ventures over Governor Pat McCrory’s decision to sign the contentious HB 2 – which voided all local ordinances protecting LGBT rights, banned transgender people from using their preferred bathroom, and permits businesses to discriminate against LGBT people on the grounds of religious belief.
One of the first companies to boycott the state was PayPal, with the online payments company cancelling a planned HQ in April that would have brought 400 jobs to North Carolina.
Before the cancellation, the planned PayPal hub had been relentlessly spun by McCrory as a economic victory.
However, relations between the state and the payments company have now become so bad that officials demanded PayPal return a ceremonial wooden bowl that the company had been presented earlier this year.
The special bowl is apparently made from the wood of a tree near the state capitol. 340 were made and given to companies that invested in the state.
Speaking to the Charlotte Observer, NC Commerce Secretary John Skvarla said: “We reached out to them and said, ‘Give us the bowl back’.
“That is a North Carolina artifact from the North Carolina state capitol made by North Carolina artisans for companies that are coming into North Carolina.”
He confirmed the bowl has been returned, saying: “We got it back, gave it to a charity auction, and they raised money that is for the benefit of the state capitol.”
Perhaps the extra funds could go towards offsetting the millions in taxpayers’ dollars that McCrory has spent defending his law.
