Christopher Cervantes
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There are some instances in history that are looked back on with confusion and shame. We have just lived through such an instance within our own borders.

Last week, the North Carolina Legislature did an absolutely unspeakable act by passing a new law that has pushed LGBT advocacy back several years.

It started with the tired, old debate over which restrooms a transgender individual is allowed to use in a public space. From that point forward, everything spiraled downward. The Legislature, in a special one-day session, created a bill that was soon after signed by Gov. Pat McCrory.

What McCrory did means that members of the LGBT community are not protected by law against discriminatory actions or policies. Furthermore, no local government is allowed to offer any protection from discrimination. While the bill may have specifically targeted transgender individuals, there existed no specific protection for homosexuals. Now, there can’t be.

The backlash against this act has been almost immediate. Many companies and employers, such as American Airlines and PayPal in North Carolina have denounced the law. Sports organizations are contemplating future business with the city of Charlotte, North Carolina.

McCrory said his reasoning behind supporting the bill was  the desire to protect women and children from sexual predators who may claim to be transgender in order to use the corresponding restroom. In response to the corporate backlash, he said many organizations supported the new bill. He did not name a single one.

I am thoroughly disappointed and disgusted with the state of affairs in this state. What Nouth Carolina has basically done is made members of a demographic in its borders seem as if they are less than everyone else.

Here’s one example: McCrory said one of his goals is to protect children. Well what about a transgender child? How will the child feel knowing that everyone else around her or him can use the restroom that corresponds to their gender identities, but he or she can’t?

The North Carolina government did not think this through, as in really through. You see the thing about any modern piece of legislation that perpetuates the discrimination of any group is that there is no logical point behind them. There are no pros behind it, whether it is socially, economically, or politically. No state, nor organization, wants to be correlated with a government (even if it is just a state government) that encourages the separation and hate of a group. They want to distance themselves from anything like this because it would make them look bad by association.

It’s important to know that what the state has done will not last. What North Carolina has done is not revolutionary, not brave, but foolish. What has really been accomplished was that the state highlighted how truly out of touch its government is with modern-day social issues and political practices. With a mindset and a bill that wouldn’t look out of place in the days of Jim Crow, the state has brought much shame to the United States.