Recently, Bruce Springsteen pressured North Carolina to consider abrogating its new transgender law by cancelling his last Sunday's concert. Now, Deutsche Bank is on the same warpath by threatening to cancel new jobs in the state.
The German-based bank announced on Tuesday that it is planning to freeze around 250 jobs in its Cary, N.C. software center, due to the company's opposition to the new controversial law of the state that requires transgender individuals to use bathrooms that correspond to their birth certificates.
"We take our commitment to building inclusive work environments seriously," said John Cryan, co-CEO of Deutsche Bank, in a statement.
"We're proud of our operations and employees in Cary and regret that as a result of this legislation we are unwilling to include North Carolina in our US expansion plans for now," he added.
With this new pressure from the business sector, plus the travel bans coming from five separate states and two counties, Pat McCrory, N.C.'s governor released an executive order on Tuesday that is designed to restore some protections to gays in the state.
However, the signed executive order does not alter the controversial law of the state which McCrory signed on March 24. It still prevents counties and municipalities from approving anti-discrimination regulations and still requires transgender individuals to use locker rooms and bathrooms that correspond to their anatomical gender.
The governor stated that he is prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation on state government personnel matters. He also requires legislators to restore the right to sue in state court if gay, lesbian, transgender, or bisexual people believe they were discriminated upon.
The governor said that he listened to the public's feedback for the past couple of weeks. "Based upon this feedback, I am taking action to affirm and improve the state's commitment to privacy and equality," assured the governor.
