North Carolina Republicans Launch 'Stand With McCrory' Site

After facing backlash for passing a law eliminating all local protections against LGBT discrimination, legislators dig in their heels with a new website applauding the governor.

The North Carolina Republican State Senatorial Committee has launched a website in support of Gov. Pat McCrory, who signed a law barring transgender people from accessing public facilities like bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity, and eliminating all LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances in the state.

The website StandWithMcCrory.com displays a Photoshopped picture of the governor with a masculine-presenting figure behind him, going into a women's restroom. Responding to critcism and a federal lawsuit targeting the bill, the copy on the site accuses the American Civil Liberties Union "and other radical, left-wing special-interest groups" of creating an "extreme national mandate forcing women and young girls to share locker rooms and bathrooms with grown men."

"Thank NC Governor Pat McCrory and Legislative Leaders for fighting to keep our children safe," reads the site, which is currently asking for donations to "help spread the word and protect our children." The site is funded by the North Carolina Republican State Senatorial Committee and by Phil Berger, the Senate Republican leader who voted in favor of the anti-LGBT bill.

Since passing the new law, North Carolina has faced backlash from major cities, such as San Francisco, New York, and Seattle, which have all issued travel bans. State leaders have also been chastised by sports franchises and corporations. Many groups say they will take business elsewhere. The state is also facing a lawsuit filed jointly by the ACLU, Equality North Carolina, two transgender men, and a lesbian law professor.

Last week, Governor Nathan Deal vetoed similarly controversial legislation which could have harmed the LGBT community in Georgia. North Carolina State Attorney General Roy Cooper has come out against the bill signed into law by McCrory and refuses to defend it. Berger, who authorized the pro-McCrory site, has called for Cooper's resignation.