A Republican candidate running to become North Carolina's attorney general
faced criticism on Tuesday after saying "we must fight to keep our state
straight" while discussing a law that restricts transgender bathroom
access and gay rights.
The
measure has positioned the state at the center of a debate over equality,
privacy and religious freedom as states propose legislation seen as
discriminatory against gay and transgender people in the wake of a U.S. Supreme
Court ruling last year that legalized same-sex marriage.
State
Senator Buck Newton made the comment while concluding a speech at a rally on
Monday and welcomed the idea of being considered a poster child for the law,
dubbed HB 2.
The law
made North Carolina the first state in the country to require transgender
people to use restrooms in public buildings and schools that match the sex on
their birth certificate rather than their gender identity.
"Go
home, tell your friends and family who had to work today what this is all about
and how hard we must fight to keep our state straight," he said to
applause.
The North
Carolina Democratic Party on Tuesday called the comments hateful and
discriminatory, demanded Newton apologize, and called on Republican Governor
Pat McCrory to denounce the statement.
"One
of the Republican sponsors of HB 2 just admitted the real purpose of the law:
to make North Carolina unwelcoming to (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender)
people," party spokesman Dave Miranda said in a statement.
In a
statement on his Facebook page on Tuesday, Newton said "liberals"
were "twisting my words."
Lawmakers
on Monday returned to the state's capital to begin a short session designed to
address the state budget, though controversy over the law has drawn much
attention.
A group of
Democratic representatives on Monday filed a bill seeking a repeal the law,
while Republican lawmakers have shown little willingness to back down.
Thousands also flocked to Raleigh to show support or disdain for the law.
Business
leaders, entertainers and even Republican presidential front-runner Donald
Trump have come out against the law. Opponents contend it demonizes transgender
people and limits government protections against discrimination for gays and
lesbians.
(Reporting
by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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