PayPal Cancels Plans For Global Operations Center In NC Over Transgender Law

After North Carolina passed what some are calling an “anti-LGBT law,” a handful of company heads have come down on the state and its lawmakers. Pepsi-Co CEO, Hewlett-Packard, Qualcomm, and others are already on record in opposition.

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The most recent company to show its disapproval is the online money transfer company, PayPal. In response to the passage of the North Carolina law, the company has said it has ceased plans to open its new global operations center in Charolette.

“The new law perpetuates discrimination and it violates the values and principles that are at the core of PayPal’s mission and culture,” said PayPal Chief Executive Dan Schulman. “As a result, PayPal will not move forward with our planned expansion into Charlotte.”

But what does the new law, HB2, actually do?

It prevents those who identify as “transgendered” from using bathrooms that don’t match the sex on their birth certificates, giving HB2 the nickname, “the bathroom law.” By the way, this only applies to government buildings. Private businesses can still include whatever kind of bathroom they want.

Hundreds of mostly small businesses have shown their support for HB2, and Tami Fitzgerald of the North Carolina Values Coalition as accused PayPal of being another out of state corporation that is “trying to bully the state of North Carolina.”

The law is being called “discriminatory” by LGBT activists, and they claim it would open the door for further discrimination in the future. They aren’t wrong. The bill is discriminatory, but they operate under the assumption that all discrimination is bad.

For instance, it’s ridiculous to say that a man should be allowed to follow a woman into the bathroom because he claims he too is a woman. If all it takes to gain access to a woman’s private areas is to slap on a wig and put on a dress, then any creep with ill intentions has a free pass to that woman’s dignity and safety. So yes, it’s discriminatory, but it’s discrimination that many North Carolinians have gotten behind. It’s discrimination that any sane person, no matter how they identify, should be able to get behind.

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Furthermore, this bill extends to schools. You know, where children attend. Parents may wish that their daughter stay free of any male presence during their time in bathrooms and locker rooms. I’ve read a lot of activist reactions, and not once have I seen this mentioned. I feel like the safety of children and young adults is a large point to consider, but is being conveniently glossed over.

In the end, SB2 isn’t focused on being discriminatory for the sake of discrimination, nor was it created simply to hate on the LGBT community, as some would stupidly say. What it really is, is a law that protects the safety of women, and girls.

Transgender groups have already filed a federal lawsuit to combat the law, claiming it puts them at risk of violence upon discovery of their actual sex. In response Senate leader Phil Berger, and House Speaker Tim Moore issued a joint statement.

“This lawsuit takes this debate out of the hands of voters and instead attempts to argue with a straight face that there is a previously undiscovered ‘right’ in the U.S. Constitution for men to use women’s bathrooms and locker rooms.”

They’re not wrong. The lawsuit prevents the state and its voters from enjoying the democratic process of making a decision for their own state, and as North Carolinians have decided, that decision is for bathrooms to stay safe.

That corporations such as PayPal seem to have an issue with common sense laws to the point that it decides to completely upend major plans in protest, says more about them than it does the state of North Carolina. If that’s the case, then I’m pretty sure there will be a whole host of people who don’t feel comfortable using the service, as it’s a business that is against laws that protect the safety and dignity of women and young girls.

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Again, HB2 is not a law against transgendered people. Surely there are transgendered people out there that realize that the dangers of laws that allow anyone to use whichever bathroom they identify as, and I would encourage them to speak out. Those who would see this law as a vessel for hate should look past the media onslaught and think for a moment about how the vast majority of others don’t believe as you do about gender identity, and how such a law could cause more than just confusion about the usage of bathroom stalls.

We live in a “you will be made to care” culture, where if you don’t comply, you’ll be bullied until you do. The LGBT activists have sometimes gone to extremes to see to it that their will be done. In New York, you can be fined up to $250,000 for misgendering someone. You’ll recall that Memories Pizza was threatened, and the family forced to flee from their business after they said they wouldn’t be able to cater a gay wedding due to their religious beliefs. Now we have activists attempting to make a state comply by using big government. If LGBT activists and supporters truly care about hatred, physical danger, and freedom, then it would be wise to start by examining their own ranks.

If you’d like to know more about my thoughts on the trans issue, you can watch my YouTube video on the subject below.

UPDATE: I love the internet, and my amazing followers on Twitter have only given me more information as they read through my article. Apparently, PayPal is making a stink over North Carolina’s law, but continues to do business, and even has overseas headquarters – like their Singapore location, in countries that sport anti-gay laws openly and proudly.

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If PayPal is basing their approval and disapproval off methods and laws based off of where they do business, then according to PayPal itself, telling men they can’t use women’s restrooms is not okay, but jailing and killing LGBT people is. Stay classy, PayPal.

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