Last week, House Bill 2 was passed in whirlwind fashion. After its passing, we found out why the process was obfuscated heavily; the bill is one of the most uniquely discriminatory bills passed since the civil rights movement. This bill has simultaneously created new avenues for discrimination, infringed on municipalities’ rights to govern and directly harmed North Carolina’s economic growth.
Over the past week, legal and economic analyses have brought light to the ways in which this bill harms North Carolinians on multiple fronts. Our university system is not immune to the detrimental impacts of this bill; in fact, as a public institution, the UNC-system campuses rank among the most vulnerable spaces.
In light of this, we were deeply disappointed to read in The Huffington Post that President Spellings has refused to comment directly on the bill. Despite her promises as of late to protect the rights of LGBT individuals, she refuses to publicly decry the bill.
To be clear, the backlash against this bill is not a partisan response. Political leaders from San Francisco to New York have lambasted the bill. Possessing the foresight to understand the dangerous implications of this style of governance, the Republican governor of Georgia vetoed a similar bill just this week.
The university system has countless LGBT individuals who are impacted by the regressive policies. If our university doesn’t protect their agency, who will? This kind of systemic disenfranchisement has major implications on funding for the system as well, given UNC’s reliance on Title IX funding — a reliance that has prompted many UNC-system student body presidents to pass a collective resolution decrying the bill.
Across the UNC system, House Bill 2 threatens individuals’ rights — rights that Spellings has recently promised to protect.
In January, the Faculty Council called for Spellings to explain her track record on LGBT issues. She responded in a letter on Feb. 29, “echo(ing)” the principles set forward in the Faculty Council’s resolution on LGBT equality and assuring “support for LGBTQ academic initiatives in a fully equitable and inclusive manner.” Spellings reminded the council of the Board of Governors’ decision last year to include sexual orientation and gender identity as a part of the UNC system’s statement on Equality of Opportunity in the University.
Further, she promised, “Together, we must make sure that our campuses are welcoming and safe places for students and faculty of all races, religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations and gender identities to live and learn and work alongside one another.”
Spellings, this is your opportunity to act on your promises. We applaud that you have responded to the community’s concern and extended these assurances. But if there is ever a time to act to protect these rights, it is now. We recognize that you are not awarded the political power to repeal this law, but it is your moral obligation to condemn it.
