ColumnHoo, boy. North Carolina just keeps stepping in it. And by “it” we mean bigotry.

A few weeks ago, we reported that North Carolina passed legislation that forces trans people to use bathrooms that correspond with their birth gender. N.C. Governor Pat McCory created the “bathroom bill” because of “safety” reasons. Since the law’s passing, politicians, such as Ted Cruz, have doubled down on the scary, safety rhetoric, saying the law is for protection purposes only—not bigotry or hate.

“As you know, my daughters are 5 and 8. My 5-year-old knows the difference between boys and girls,” Cruz said in a totally not sarcastic way. “That’s not a reasonable position, it is simply crazy and the idea that grown men would be allowed alone in a bathroom with little girls—you don’t need to be a behavioral psychologist to realize bad things can happen, and any prudent person wouldn’t allow that.”

And this is the guy many hoped would knock Trump out of the race to the White House.

Well, things have become even crazier. On Monday, the U.S. Justice Department filed a civil rights lawsuit over NC’s “bathroom bill.” In response, North Carolina state officials began filing suits “against the federal directive to stop the implementation of the controversial legislation,” CNN reports.

The lawsuits concern something the state calls “common sense privacy policy” that’s “meant to protect the state’s public employees,” The Huffington Post explains.

When Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the U.S. government’s legislation, she reminded the country that not so long ago, many states, including NC, had similar but different bathroom laws. “It was not so very long ago that states, including North Carolina, had other signs above restrooms, water fountains, and on public accommodations, keeping people out based on a distinction without a difference,” Lynch said. “We’ve moved beyond those dark days.”

With this legislation, the U.S. government’s “Justice Department seeks declaratory relief and threatens to curtail federal funding to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the University of North Carolina (UNC),” CNN reports. However, it appears that UNC plans to not implement the bill, stating that the school’s “policy prohibits university personnel from discriminating on the basis of, among other things, gender identity, sex, or sexual orientation.”

“The next step is likely to be a federal judge’s decision on whether to impose an injunction, or temporary ruling, to void the North Carolina law pending a trial,” The Huffington Post adds. “Regardless of how a judge might rule on an injunction, the case stands to add to a growing body of legal decisions that have tended to side in favor of transgender rights but not enough to dissuade states like North Carolina.”

Well, then, let’s do something that actually will dissuade states like North Carolina to not write hateful legislation in the future. Now that would be something.

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Bathrooms image via Shutterstock

The post North Carolina and the Battle Over Bigotry—Excuse Us—the ‘Bathroom Bill’: #NowWhat appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnWhile this past week has been full of gross news about how certain states (ahem, MISSISSIPPI and NORTH CAROLINA) view LGBT people in a less than favorable way, there is a beacon of hope in Pennsylvania, Governor Tom Wolf, who is taking a progressive political stand against the recent bigoted legislation.

Over the past weeks, the Mississippi and North Carolina governments created legislation that allows “individuals and institutions with religious objections to deny services to gay couples,” The New York Times reports.

The North Carolina law, signed by Governor Pat McCory, “made it legal to fire someone for their sexual orientation or gender identity… [and] forced trans people to use the restrooms in public buildings that correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth,” Advocate reports. And the Mississippi law, also known as the “religious liberty” law, “allows businesses to discriminate against customers and employees based on their “sincerely held religious beliefs,” Advocate adds.

Mmm. Smells like fresh shit institutional de-evolution.

Well, thank goodness for Pennsylvania’s Governor Tom Wolf, because he’s had enough of this bigoted bullshit.

On April 6, Wolf announced plans to sign executive orders “to protect LGBT state employees in response to North Carolina’s anti-gay law,” Advocate reports. He signed those executive orders on April 7.

And Wolf isn’t trying to sneak this legislation in — in fact, he’s making loud statements concerning the issue.

During an interview with WESA, a Pittsburgh radio station, he called the N.C. law discriminatory.

“This is not something we want in [Pennsylvania] — we want to be known as a welcoming state,” Wolf said in the radio interview. “We want to be known as a place that’s open for everybody.”

In an initial press release concerning the signings, Wolf detailed what the executive orders would entail. One executive order concerns commonwealth employees, and the  other pertains to commonwealth grants and procurement process, the release states. “Each say no agency under the governor’s jurisdiction shall discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender expression, and identity, among other areas.”

Hell yeah, Governor Wolf. All we can add is that we hope more American states will follow Wolf’s lead and stop the bigotry now.

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Image of Governor Tom Wolf via his Facebook page

The post PA Governor Tells MI, NC Where to Stick ‘Religious Freedom’ Laws: #NowWhat appeared first on EcoSalon.

“It’s funny how new furniture has a way of restoring people,” says the sweet, pastel-coated spread (above) appearing in online and print magazines.

Why the reminder to hug a couch today?

It’s all part of a $20 million ad campaign launched by Ogilvy & Mather to spur Americans to focus on the bird in the hand, namely homes they now own and can play with even if the economy ain’t recovering and we can’t bid on new real estate.

Decor spending is in the toilet with showrooms hurting and closing in all major cities. According to the Commerce Department, sales of home furnishings fell 12.9% over the last year, and they’re still dropping. Sales were down .9% in July from June.

But don’t be part of that sluggish market when furniture can lift your spirits to new heights. A new pillow can make you thinner and an upholstered headboard will make you rich. Remodeling your bathroom can cure halitosis. Don’t even get me started on that imported bidet!

“Things that fill our home also fulfill us. They become who we are. Giving us joy. Providing us with comfort.” That’s what the ad says, which has appeared in Metropolitan Home’s eco edition and other respected journals.

Meantime, a product information invoice attached to the sofa in the ad ironically says: “22 percent cotton, 13 percent giggles, 15 percent hugs, 11 percent afternoon naps.”

Okay, so now we know why those ad men make the big bucks. It’s genius to assign the same value to seating as quality family time and showing affection. There’s even a makeover opportunity if you tell your cheap, lazy ass friends to clear out that dilapidated jalopy of a couch from their college years and the hideous side chairs they inherited from a cousin. Don’t you want a hug and tickles, you slob you?

If I entered the sweepstakes I’d get myself out of the laundry room and make a real office in a prefab shed outside. But I’m so unlucky at these prizes. My mom always wins raffles, purses at luncheons, free dinners, you name it. Not me. Damn, and I could get Monica Pedersen to stage my office, whoever she is. I wonder is she is related to the Bret Pedersen who works with my husband. Now he could use a makeover.

According to Fast Company, the story behind the ad is rooted in the maverick Las Vegas way of doing things. While High Point, North Carolina, once ruled as the center of American furniture production and sales, the focal point has shifted to the World Market Center,  a 1.3-million-square-foot showroom and exhibition space in Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas group apparently commissioned the ad campaign as a stopgap measure for the hurting industry. It’s a $20 million gamble that just might pay off!

Image: Homeyet Lifestyle, Homeyet Lifestyle, Fast Company

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