Catherwood LibraryILR School

National corporations are making their voices heard in protest of last week’s passing of a North Carolina bill that removed protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and which also prevented any North Carolina community from extending protections beyond existing state law. Notably, current state law does not provide for protections against sexual orientation discrimination. Bank of America, based in Charlotte and the state’s largest corporate employer as well as major donor to state political campaigns, is one of 90 national companies which denounced the bill, stating “such laws are bad for our employees and bad for business”. Other national firms against the measure include American Airlines, Lowe’s Home Improvement, Facebook, and Paypal. The state governors of New York, Washington, and Vermont, as well as the mayors of New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle, have issued bans on official state travel to North Carolina.