Bank of America Joins Backlash Against North Carolina LGBT Law

Bank of America has joined a growing number of companies objecting to a new North Carolina law that bans local governments in the state from enacting anti-discrimination measures to protect the LGBT community.

The bank, which is based in Charlotte, N.C., made the announcement on Twitter on Tuesday, joining companies like Apple and Facebook in its opposition to the law. Governors in New York, Washington and Vermont have banned state travel to North Carolina in the wake of the legislation, and Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, the A.C.L.U. of North Carolina and Equality North Carolina have filed a lawsuit agains Gov. Pat McCrory, who signed the law, the New York Times reports.

Bank of America is the largest corporation in the state, where it was a big contributor to McCrory’s gubernatorial campaign in 2012 and has supported both of the state’s parties. The state’s attorney general, Roy Cooper, opposes the law, calling it discriminatory and a “national embarrassment,” and plans to run against McCrory in the fall. McCrory says Cooper and others are running a “smear campaign” against him, arguing that the law does not remove existing protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity (which is a matter of dispute, the Times notes).

[NYT]