Battle over transgender ordinance fires up on social media
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Politicians, celebrities, and people across the country have taken to social media to discuss House Bill 2, which repealed a local transgender ordinance in Charlotte.
The legislation has ignited a fierce debate on social media. If you click here, you'll see hundreds of tweets discussing the subject using the hashtag #HB2.
Read more: McCrory signs bill overturning transgender ordinance
Transgender celebrities have drawn national attention to the state bill on Twitter. Caitlyn Jenner and actress Lavern Cox of the Netflix original series "Orange is the New Black," have asked followers to organize and oppose the bill.
Gov. Pat McCrory issued a statement on his decision to sign the bill on Twitter Wednesday night, calling the Charlotte ordinance nonsensical.
McCrory's office also issued this statement explaining his response:
"The basic expectation of privacy in the most personal of settings, a restroom or locker room, for each gender was violated by government overreach and intrusion by the mayor and city council of Charlotte. This radical breach of trust and security under the false argument of equal access not only impacts the citizens of Charlotte but people who come to Charlotte to work, visit or play. This new government regulation defies common sense and basic community norms by allowing, for example, a man to use a woman's bathroom, shower or locker room.
"While local municipalities have important priorities working to oversee police, fire, water and sewer, zoning, roads, and transit, the mayor and city council took action far out of its core responsibilities. As a result, I have signed legislation passed by a bipartisan majority to stop this breach of basic privacy and etiquette which was to go into effect April 1. Although other items included in this bill should have waited until regular session, this bill does not change existing rights under state or federal law.
"It is now time for the city of Charlotte elected officials and state elected officials to get back to working on the issues most important to our citizens."
Roy Cooper, North Carolina Attorney General and Democratic candidate opposing McCrory in the November election, posted a video to Facebook disagreeing with the bill before it passed. Cooper called HB2 discriminatory.
The North Carolina GOP also issued a video campaigning for House Bill 2 on Wednesday.
After the bill was passed, Cooper asked his Twitter followers to retweet his photo-statement that reads, "We're better than this. Discrimination is wrong, period."
Cooper's tweet also includes the hashtag "#WeAreNotThis," which has taken off on social media. You can read the tweets people are posting using the "#WeAreNotThis" hashtag here.
Conservatives on Twitter have also created their own hashtag for discussion using"#KeepNCSafe," and you can look at the latest tweets using that hashtag HERE.
Cooper followed up his series of social media posts with a tweet that linked to a donation collecting website for his campaign. The donation site states "North Carolina is better than this."
The American Civil Liberties Union is also responding. The organization may file a legal challenge to the NC House Bill onThursday.
