WASHINGTON -- Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, hailed the nearly 70 businesses for making public their opposition to Texas’ SB 6, an anti-transgender bill similar to North Carolina’s HB2 law. The businesses, along with several Texas Chambers of Commerce, signed a letter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Speaker of the House Joe Straus and other lawmakers, voicing their opposition to this discriminatory proposal. The letter was organized by the Texas Association of Business, as part of its “Keep Texas Open for Business” project.
“As we have witnessed in North Carolina with HB2, businesses want nothing to do with states that promote anti-LGBTQ discrimination,” said JoDee Winterhof, HRC Senior Vice President for Policy and Political Affairs. “It is heartening to see businesses stand up against harmful bills like SB 6, and hopefully lawmakers in Texas are paying attention to the increasingly frequent warnings that anti-LGBTQ laws will be detrimental to Texas’ future.”
“If state leaders pass SB 6 and other discriminatory bills, Texas could lose billions of dollars in GDP -- a critical loss of revenue that would threaten the state’s ability to fund public education, transportation and other essential state services,” said Chris Wallace, president of Texas Association of Business. “The economic impact is very real and very significant. Consider the losses that continue to pile up in North Carolina due to HB2, a law that tracks very closely with Texas’ SB 6.”
The full list of signatories is included at the end of this release.
SB 6 is a discriminatory, anti-transgender bill. It would overturn non-discrimination ordinances currently providing critical protections in several major Texas cities; further, it would force state agencies, municipalities, public schools and public universities to discriminate against transgender people. By making it illegal for transgender people in Texas to be afforded access to facilities consistent with their identity, it opens them up to increased discrimination and harassment as they simply live their everyday lives. It also exposes Texas to tremendous risk of the kind of financial, legal, and political blowback that North Carolina has continued to reckon with after the passage of HB2.
Alamo Drafthouse, Albemarle, Amazon, AMD, American Airlines, American Society of Association Executives, Apple, Arconic, Atlassian, Ben & Jerry’s, Bishop Avenue Capital, Bracewell LLP, Capital Factory, Capital One, Cedar Park Chamber of Commerce, Celanese, Choice Hotels, Civitas Capital Group, CompTIA, CompX International, Dell Inc., Destination El Paso, Dow Chemical, eBay, Facebook, Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce, Google, Google Fiber, Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce, GSD&M, Haynes & Boone, Hilton, HP, IBM, Indeed, Intel, InterContinental Hotels Group, Ketchum, Kronos Worldwide, La Quinta Inns & Suites, Marriott International, McShan Florist Inc., Microsoft, NL Industries, North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, NXP, PayPal, Plano Chamber of Commerce, RetailMeNot, Round Rock Chamber, Salesforce, Samsung Austin Semiconductor, Sanders\Wingo, Silicon Labs, South Padre Island Chamber of Commerce, Strasburger & Price LLP, SXSW, TechNet, TEKVOX, Tenet Healthcare, Texas Association of Business, Thompson & Knight LLP, Under Armour, Unilever, United Airlines, VisitDallas, Xoxco, Inc.
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