Find the way out

“I think there definitely has been an economic effect,” Rep. John Faircloth of High Point added. “I think we’re going to have to address it.”

That sober conclusion stands in sharp contrast, however, to the attitude of Gov. Pat McCrory, who continued to make misstatements and accuse major corporations of hypocrisy on “The Big Show with John Boy and Billy” radio program Tuesday.

The governor even suggested that Bruce Springsteen’s real reason for canceling a Greensboro concert was disappointing ticket sales, not opposition to HB 2: “By the way, they only had 8,000 tickets sold with all respect,” he said. “Bruce doesn’t mention that. They didn’t quite get the tickets sales they wanted, might have had something to do with it.”

Not true. Fifteen thousand tickets had already been sold, just a few hundred short of a sell-out, when the event was scratched two days before show time.

On the same program, the governor said of corporations criticizing the bill, “I think they’re making a mistake getting involved in politics.” Tell the Koch brothers, governor.

Instead of pushing back or digging in, the governor and legislative leaders should stop and listen. They should do as Hardister, Faircloth and apparently others suggest and look for a way out of this mess.

That won’t be politically easy at this point because they’ve convinced many people that HB 2 is the only thing protecting women and girls from assault by sexual predators invading public restrooms. In reality, HB 2 provides no protections at all. It only requires people to use the facilities that correspond to the gender listed on their birth certificates but has no enforcement provisions. A man can claim to be biologically female, and who is authorized to check?

But, for the sake of “compromise,” the legislature should repeal HB 2 in full and replace it with stricter penalties for crimes committed in public restrooms — not only assault but indecent exposure so it’s clear that male anatomy is not on display where women and girls have to see it.

HB 2’s current provisions — the bathroom directive, measures barring local governments from enacting minimum wage and anti-discrimination ordinances, and removal of a right to file discrimination claims in state courts — should be scrapped.

If that’s done, the protests will stop and corporations, sports associations, performers and others will drop their objections.

Republicans will get some backlash from their conservative followers, but they won’t deserve any sympathy. Their choice is about protecting the state from further and increasingly severe economic harm. Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department said HB 2 violates the U.S. Civil Rights Act, which means federal school funding could be at risk.

Is the damage worth whatever the governor thinks was gained from the passage of HB 2? It’s time to stop blaming Charlotte, the media, special-interest groups, liberal extremists or anyone else and put an end to this trouble. There is a way out, and the state’s leaders must take it.

http://www.greensboro.com/opinion/n_and_r_editorials/our-opinion-find-the-way-out/article_f1187e5d-24e8-5a52-8842-efe0772f6f2b.html