Rhetorical skirmishes continued Tuesday in North Carolina over a law limiting protections for LGBT people, as Democrats criticized a Republican’s plea to “keep our state straight.”
The criticism came a day after dueling demonstrations drew thousands of protesters for and against the law, ending with the arrests of 54 people voicing their opposition to the law in the Legislative Building.
At a demonstration in support of the law earlier Monday, the state’s Republican nominee for attorney general, state Sen. Buck Newton, urged the crowd to “tell your friends and family who had to work today what this is all about and how hard we must fight to keep our state straight.”
The North Carolina Democratic Party issued a statement Tuesday calling the comments hateful and discriminatory toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. They called for Newton, who shepherded the legislation through his chamber, to apologize.
Newton told reporters Tuesday that the phrase “keep our state straight” had nothing to do with sexual orientation. “It means keep men out of the ladies’ room,” he said.
“I think the silly season is upon us and I think this whole effort by the Democratic Party is to be expected,” Newton said, adding, “I never mentioned gays or anyone. So I’m not quite sure how they made that leap. Maybe they’re being a little sensitive.”
North Carolina’s top elected Republican leaders have said they don’t plan to repeal the law, a stance likely to stoke further protests.
Meanwhile, the leader of a national advocacy group said Tuesday that transgender people used bathrooms aligned with their gender identity on Monday during protests in the Legislative Building and weren’t arrested for it, despite the law’s provisions. The law directs transgender people to use bathrooms in public buildings corresponding to the sex on their birth certificate, though it doesn’t spell out an enforcement mechanism.