Dear Colleagues,

Thank you for your tremendous support opposing HB2 in North Carolina.

You may have seen that the United States Department of Justice has filed a historic lawsuit arguing that HB2 violates multiple federal civil rights statutes by requiring transgender people to use government owned restrooms and facilities inconsistent with their gender identity. Legal prohibitions on sex discrimination clearly includes discrimination on the basis of gender identity. HRC would be happy to provide additional resources on this strong legal trend.

As leaders committed to LGBT inclusion, we wanted to give you early notice that the Human Rights Campaign is organizing an amicus brief for businesses in support of the Department of Justice's challenging this harmful law.

The business community knows that discrimination is bad for business and bad for North Carolina. North Carolina has already lost more than a half billion dollars -- and counting -- in economic activity just from companies canceling or reconsidering plans to come to the state, including more than 1700 lost jobs. Plus, untold economic damage has occurred from cancelled conventions, concerts, and other lost tourism dollars. These stark figures don't include potential economic development that will never come to fruition in North Carolina because of Gov. McCrory’s radical law, or the potential catastrophic loss of billions of dollars in federal funding for schools, roads, bridges, and other essential services.

For businesses operating in North Carolina, recruiting and retaining top talent is essential. Our efforts are aimed at keeping a level playing field for all employees and businesses in the state. Open and affirming workplaces prosper and you all represent businesses that demonstrate this every day.

We are in the process of finalizing representation and will be reaching out in the coming days with more information. We hope that you will consider officially adding your business to this amicus brief, supporting the basic civil rights of transgender people with the aim of stopping the civil rights violations occurring in North Carolina and preventing future violations.