North Carolina was the first state in the union to pass a so-called bathroom bill, mandating that a person should use the public restroom that matches the sex on his or her birth certificate and not the one that identified with. The measure was meant to spare females, especially children, the trauma and the potential danger of sharing facilities with people who are anatomically male. The law was seen by some groups as being bigoted against transgendered people, resulting in an economic boycott of the state. But, except the NCAA championships, the NBAA All-Star Game, and Bruce Springsteen, the boycott is pretty much a bust.
According to the Washington Times, tourism in North Carolina is thriving, with hotel occupancy and room rates setting records for 2016. The state also has remained active for attracting and creating businesses, and the unemployment rate has remained steady at 5.3 percent. Lt. Gov. Dan Forrest has boasted that the economic effect of the boycott has been less than one-tenth of one percent, an assessment that has been disputed by Democrats.
The news coming out of North Carolina will likely have an effect in the 16 other states that are considering similar Bathroom Bill legislation, such as Texas. The main argument against such bills is that they would spark similar boycotts and would economically damage the state where they are passed and signed into law.
The news of the ineffectiveness of the economic boycott of North Carolina is the latest twist in what has become one of the more annoying battles in the so-called Culture Wars. From time immemorial it has been understood where people use public facilities, the idea that the vast majority of individuals would prefer to perform intimate functions without the company of people of the opposite biological sex.
The insistence that public restrooms and showers be the only places in America that are not to be safe spaces has caused pushback in places like North Carolina. The sensible solution of providing a one occupancy unisex bathroom with a lock has been lost in the shouting, finger pointing, and virtue signaling.
Meanwhile the economy is still in the doldrums and ISIS still wants to kill everyone regardless of sexual orientation.
