North Carolina’s infamous HB2 has brought much attention to the state, not all of it positive. The highly controversial bill restricts use of the bathroom to one’s sex, defined by the law as the physical state of being male or female, as noted on a birth certificate. It also bans North Carolina cities from enacting anti-discrimination legislation, setting a minimum wage, regulating child labor and making certain regulations pertaining to city workers.
The bill has sparked widespread criticism and led to billions of revenue lost for the state’s economy. Notably, the NCAA boycotted the state in 2016 due to the bill, moving seven championship events out of the state, and the NBA moved the All-Star Game from Charlotte, North Carolina to New Orleans. PayPal halted plans for an expansion in Raleigh. Seven U.S. states and 29 cities have banned non-essential travel to the state for city, state and county workers. Louisiana should be next on the list and for more reasons than simply HB2.
HB2 is not the first dangerous legislative precedent North Carolina lawmakers have set. In the 1979 case State v. Way, the North Carolina Supreme Court decided that once penetration had occurred with consent, the accused could not be convicted of rape. For the past 38 years, it has been legally impossible to withdraw consent once sex is initiated. By comparison, Louisiana sex crime laws are downright heroic.
In Louisiana, any sexual act committed without consent is considered simple rape, which carries a penalty of up to 25 years hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation or suspension. Forcible rape, where the victim is coerced by use or threats of force or is unable to understand the act by means of intoxication, carries a sentence of five to 40 years — two of which are ineligible for parole, probation or suspension.
To further show support for the state’s female and LGBT population, Governor John Bel Edwards should enact a similar travel ban. North Carolina should be held accountable for the way its legal system treats women and minorities. Louisiana should join the growing coalition of states, counties and cities adding pressure on North Carolina. Almost 100 years after women’s suffrage passed and two years after the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges case, all 50 states in the country should be of one mind on this.
