CEO of Etsy, Who Grew up in N.C., Wants HB 2 Repealed

Chad Dickerson, the CEO of Etsy, calls North Carolina's House Bill 2 "egregious" and an "unnecessary attempt to allow discrimination."

Dickerson was born and raised in Greenville, N.C., and HB 2 "doesn’t reflect the North Carolina I know," he writes in a blog post published today on Medium.

North Carolina's HB 2 bans local governments from including sexual orientation and gender identity in their antidiscrimination ordinances. The law also specifically targets transgender people by requring them to use public bathroom and locker room facilities that don’t match their gender identity, when these facilities are located in government buildings.

The CEO will not be boycotting the state, as many businesses and entertainers have done, but instead he plans to host a concert by area musicians May 15 in Saxapahaw, N.C., with two local LGBT organizations — Equality North Carolina and QORDS. Dickerson sponsored the event and covered all its costs. All proceeds from the event will be going to EqualityNC and QORDS to fight HB 2.

At Etsy, the global online marketplace, Dickerson says he encourages "all employees, regardless of gender, to use the restrooms that feel most comfortable to them, and this transition did not lead to disruptions or conflicts."

"Inclusion is good business, plain and simple," Dickerson writes. He will be present at the May show and has hopes that it will be a "celebration of the law's repeal."

Earlier today President Obama called for HB 2 to be repealed.