GOPer governor is a liar

Republican Governor of North Carolina, Pat McCrory, has now resorted to lying about the effect of recent anti-gay legislation. According to the New York Times McCrory defended his signature in a testy news conference on Monday, insisting that the new law did not take away existing protections.

That is not only a lie but it is a stunningly stupid lie. The very purpose of the legislation was to nullify municipal nondiscrimination laws. Indeed, the legislation was in direct reaction to Charlotte's  broadened ordinance which included protections for transgender citizens.

Specifics:

Prior to the enactment of the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, the counties of Buncombe, Mecklenburg, and Orange as well as the cities of Asheville and Charlotte, Boone, Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Greensboro, and Raleigh prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The counties of Durham and Guilford along with the cities of Bessemer, Durham, High Point and Winston-Salem prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation only. Those protections are all gone by an act of the state legislature signed into law by Governor McCrory.

The University of North Carolina system, which comprises North Carolina's 16 public universities, has established a policy of non-discrimination with regard to sexual orientation and gender identity in employment and for students. It remains to be seen how the legislation might affect those protections. It seems to give individuals within the system permission to discriminate.

The imaginary smear campaign:

Then on Tuesday McCrory accused his critics of engaging in a “vicious nationwide smear campaign” against his state. A smear requires an untruth. Precisely what is untrue about the criticism of North Carolina for this legislation? I can marginally accept the notion that this guy is spectacularly insensitive to the needs of his LGBT citizens. However, suggesting that this is some sort of smear suggests that McCrory is missing some circuitry. Just how stupid does he think we all are? Just how stupid is he?