PayPal Pulls Business from North Carolina Due to its Anti-LGBT Law

via Flicker user (cc) PopTech

PayPal’s CEO Dan Schulman announced yesterday that the company has reversed its decision to build a massive global operations center in North Carolina because of its HB2 law. Paypal’s decision blocks a $3.6 million investment and 400 new jobs from coming to the state. Schulman said that HB2 “perpetuates discrimination and it violates the values and principles that are at the core of PayPal’s mission and culture.” Google has also stepped in saying it has stopped doing business with any companies in North Carolina until HB2 is repealed. Last week, CEOs from Facebook, Salesforce, Tumblr, Dropbox, Lyft, and Apple sent a letter to Governor Pat McCrory urging him to repeal the law.

After Charlotte, North Carolina put LGBT nondiscrimination laws into place, the state stepped in and passed sweeping legislation that superseded it. This new law, HB2, says that people can only use bathrooms which match the biological sex “stated on a person’s birth certificate.” The bill forces transgendered people to use the restrooms of their opposite gender. The new legislation also says that all local laws regarding LGBT nondiscrimination practices are superseded by the new discriminatory state laws.

The North Carolina governor’s office has yet to respond to PayPal’s decision, but it will be hard for it to turn a blind eye as more business threaten to pull the plug in North Carolina. Lionsgate has recently announced it will stop producing its TV show Crushed in the state and the CEO of Red Ventures has said his company will “seriously reconsider” its plan to bring 500 jobs to Charlotte.

Recently, GOOD reported on an anti-LGBT “religious freedom” law that was vetoed by Georgia’s governor after a harsh backlash from the state’s business interests. Disney went so far as saying they’d “take our business elsewhere” should the bill pass. Now, after an anti-LGBT law was passed on March 24th, North Carolina is facing a backlash from its business community which was furthered by yesterday’s major announcement from PayPal.