SC senator trying to steer state down NC's path with anti-lgbt bill

SC Sen. Lee Bright just don't like gay folks

With its neighboring state of North Carolina catching all sorts of negative publicity and boycotts because of recently passed anti-lgbt law, one would think that South Carolina would steer far from that territory.

Unfortunately, those of us who live in SC know our legislators. Particular one state senator, Lee Bright.

From The Free Times:

South Carolina Sen. Lee Bright has filed a bill similar to a new North Carolina law that bars transgender people from using the bathroom associated with their gender identity.

Like the North Carolina law, Bright’s bill would also prevent cities and counties from passing any laws of their own to protect transgender people’s use of the bathroom. North Carolina’s law arose as a response to a City of Charlotte ordinance.

Bright’s bill would force schools and state government to require people only to use the bathrooms and locker rooms associated with their "biological sex," which the bill defines as "the physical condition of being male or female, which is stated on a person's birth certificate."

North Carolina has already seen serious fallout from HB2, with PayPal dropping plans to expand in the state and the NCAA saying it might not hold future tournaments there. A lawsuit against HB2 has already been filed.

In comments about the bill on the Senate floor, Bright said he was upset North Carolina was "getting so much grief" over HB2.

"Apparently PayPal has shown its support for pedophiles by wanting them to go into bathrooms," Bright said. "Men and women in public places sharing bathrooms is just beyond me. ... I've about had enough of this. I mean, years ago we kept talking about tolerance, tolerance and tolerance, and now they want men who claim to be women to go in the bathroom with children. And you got corporations who say this is OK."

Bright's statement is full of lies and his bill puts SC in dangerous position. But us lgbt South Carolinians have come to expect that from Bright. He just flat out doesn't like us. So much so that he can twist any situation into an attack on us.

Last year, after the terrible shooting at an African-American church in Charleston by a young racist which led to the deaths and injury of 10 people, including another state senator, the SC Legislature began steps remove the Confederate flag from the State House grounds. It was a way for the state to symbolically heal after so many years of racial strife punctuated by that singular awful incident in Charleston.

Someone forgot to tell this to Sen. Bright. In an opening speech during the session to decide the fate of the flag, he not only railed against removing it, but also attempted to shift the conversation by demanding that South Carolina do something to "stop the sin" of gay marriage before the nation is destroyed.

The following video leads me to ask just who is more of a danger to South Carolina - transgender men and women who only want some semblance of dignity and peace while conducting their lives. Or THIS GUY:



UPDATE - SC Gov. Nikki Haley has just come out against this bill:

 "We passed a law back in 1999 that dealt with religious liberty and it basically reflected the federal law, and it works just fine," Haley said. "In South Carolina, we are blessed because we don't have to mandate respect or kindness or responsibility in this state, and that law has worked perfectly."

'Efforts begin to fight MISS homophobia, hate' & other Wed. midday news briefs

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant brings fire down on his state.

Corporate Coalition Is Forming To Fight Mississippi’s Anti-LGBT Law - It begins again. Folks need to learn that fostering discrimination is and will always be costly. 

Several States Ban Official Travel To Mississippi Over Anti-Gay Law - It starts.

 Family Research Council anti-lgbt hysteria helped cover up NC law's attack on employment, wages - My post from this morning. A true event horizon moment for the Family Research Council in which the group shows that it doesn't particularly care that much for those who support its noxious efforts.  

Watch A Transgender Activist Debunk The "Bathroom Predator" Myth On CNN - One GOOD thing about all of this junk and lies about "bathroom predators" is that it is giving folks a platform to refute it.  

Four North Carolina Universities Debunk Anti-LGBT "Bathroom Predator" Myth - Over and over and over and over again. Then do it some more. Seize the moment to get the truth about and "do it to death."

Family Research Council anti-lgbt hysteria helped cover up NC law's attack on employment, wages

FRC head Tony Perkins

In a statement on its webpage, the Family Research Council celebrated the passage of Mississippi's very broad religious liberty (anti-lgbt law) and NC's recently passed one:

Thanks to Governor Phil Bryant (R), facts -- not fear -- won out in Mississippi! Earlier today, Bryant signed the "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act" into law over the threats from corporate America and LGBT activists. After the Left's tantrum over North Carolina, where leaders denied men access to girls' restrooms and showers, most people started to see the liberal agenda for the extremism it is. Now, with the enactment of H.B. 1523, Mississippi is responding by passing religious liberty legislation that should be a model for every state.

Despite Big Business bullies, a media misinformation campaign, and liberal scaremongers, Governor Bryant helped to fan the flames of a national pushback to the Left's intolerance on the issue of marriage. Under this law, churches aren't the only ones protected from government punishment for their beliefs -- so are businesses, wedding vendors, and even public officials. While the threats from corporate America continue to roll in to North Carolina and Mississippi, the reality is that after Houston voters killed the city's hugely unpopular bathroom bill in November, the momentum has been on the side of common sense.

Thanks to his tremendous courage, Governor Bryant -- like Governor Pat McCrory (R-N.C.) -- has cemented his legacy as one of freedom. In the face of some of the stiffest pressure of his career, he stood strong for the rights of his state to live and work according to their faith. And while Mississippi -- like North Carolina -- will have to weather a temporary storm, in the end, both governors will be rewarded with their voters' support and a legacy of courage. Years from now, no one will remember if a sporting event was held in a particular city -- but those communities would be reminded daily in a thousand ways if their freedom to believe was lost because of the political cowardice of political leaders.

Meanwhile, PayPal may be the Left's friend, but it's no pal of North Carolina's! The money transfer service announced this morning that it's canceling the company's Charlotte expansion because the state won't force young girls to share bathrooms and showers with grown men.

FRC not only glosses over the severity of the Mississippi law, but it also continues  the lie about how NC's law keeps young girls from sharing bathrooms and showers with grown men. That's how FRC has continuously framed NC's law. Public safety. Protecting girls and women in showers and bathrooms. And regardless how many times that lie has been refuted, FRC continues to trot it out in a annoyingly tone deaf fashion.