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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
BOYCOTTING THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTH CAROLINA-BASED BUSINESSES
WHEREAS, on March 23, 2016, the State of North Carolina adopted the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, which is officially known as an act to provide for single-sex multiple occupancy bathroom and changing facilities in schools and public agencies, and to create statewide consistency in regulation of employment and public accommodations, prohibiting anti-discrimination rules being established except on the basis contained in the state's anti-discrimination laws; and
WHEREAS, because the state's anti-discrimination laws do not include discrimination on the basis of sexuality or gender status, the legislation has been widely described as anti-LGBT, due to the act’s restriction of the definition of sex to the sex at birth, forcing all government-controlled facilities to maintain single-sex bathrooms for matching biological sex only; and
WHEREAS, the process of adoption of this discriminatory law took less than 24 hours, from presentation and vote by the House of Representatives, through a speedy vote by the Senate, ending in official enactment upon the signature of Governor Pat McCrory that same day; and
WHEREAS, on March 28, 2016, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of North Carolina, Lambda Legal, and Equality North Carolina, filed a federal lawsuit challenging House Bill 2, arguing that North Carolina's new law “violates the most basic guarantees of equal treatment and the U.S. Constitution"; and
WHEREAS, a number of companies have publicly announced their opposition to the law, including Red Hat, Dow Chemical, Biogen, Wells Fargo, American Airlines, Lowe's, PayPal, Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, IBM, Yelp, and Salesforce.com; and on March 29, 2016, an open letter signed by 80 corporate CEOs against House Bill 2 was sent to Governor McCrory; and
WHEREAS, as of April 3, 2016, the states of Connecticut, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, and Washington, the District of Columbia, as well as the cities of Boston, Chicago, New York City, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, and West Palm Beach have issued travel bans in response to House Bill 2, barring government employees from non-essential travel to North Carolina; and
WHEREAS, the State of North Carolina has charted an ominous legal course that puts extremist politics before the rights of all of its residents, and betrays our most deeply-held American values; and
WHEREAS, North Carolina’s House Bill 2 seriously undermines the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment which grants Equal Protection by providing that laws in the United States must apply equally to everyone; and
WHEREAS, in the words of Justice Anthony Kennedy, when in 1996 the Supreme Court struck down then Colorado’s anti-LGBT law in Romer v. Evans, this law “…seems inexplicable by anything but animus toward the class it affects; it lacks a rational relationship to legitimate state interests”; and
WHEREAS, the most appropriate response, by the taxpayers of Cook County to the State of North Carolina, is to assure that the State of North Carolina’s isolation is tangible rather than symbolic; and
WHEREAS, Cook County, the 2nd largest county in the nation with a budget of over 3.3 billion dollars and a diverse population of more than five million, should be a leader in protecting the rights of people.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Cook County Board of Commissioners that the members of this Board hereby find North Carolina’s House Bill 2 to be offensive to the values of the taxpayers of Cook County; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, by the Cook County Board of Commissioners that this Board hereby boycotts the State of North Carolina and North Carolina-based businesses until North Carolina’s House Bill 2 is repealed or invalidated; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that unless and until North Carolina’s House Bill 2 is repealed or invalidated, the Cook County Board of Commissioners and the Cook County Departments refrain from, to the extent practicable, and in instances where there is no significant additional cost to the County nor conflict with law, entering into any new, renewed, or amended contracts to purchase goods or services from any company that is headquartered in North Carolina; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, by the Cook County Board of Commissioners that County government will not participate in any conventions or other business, which requires County resources to be spent in the State of North Carolina; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, by the Cook County Board of Commissioners that this Board hereby urges the Illinois General Assembly and the Governor of the State of Illinois to adopt a similar resolution calling for the boycott of the State of North Carolina and North Carolina-based businesses until North Carolina’s House Bill 2 is repealed or invalidated; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Cook County Board of Commissioners hereby directs the Secretary of the Board to send a copy of this Resolution to North Carolina’s Governor Pat McCrory.
This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon passage
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