Letter: Economics and politics displace civil discourse and compromise in North Carolina
North Carolina passed a law that bans people from using bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity, rather than their gender at birth.
What is disturbing, to me about this latest battle of right, is not the rhetorical cacophony regarding discrimination of gays, LGBT and transgenders versus the privacy and safety issues raised by others. Rather, it is the fact that the NBA, NCAA, American Airlines and Wells Fargo have seen fit to throw their economic weight around with whispered threats of pulling events and business from the state.
North Carolina passed the bill to avoid the absolute chaos that would ensue if each local municipality passed its own laws — as we have seen here in Washington with the recent marijuana laws.
Once again, economics and politics displace civil discourse and sensible compromise. Instead of focusing on the actual issues, decisions are made in a cloud of unrelated factors and common sense gets flushed down the toilet.
Gabe Lyons, Richland
This story was originally published May 17, 2016 at 1:09 AM with the headline "Letter: Economics and politics displace civil discourse and compromise in North Carolina."