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Georgia 'anti-LGBT' bill vetoed, Funny or Die goes after North Carolina

Technically Incorrect: Following pressure from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and other tech luminaries, Georgia's governor vetoes a "religious liberty" bill. North Carolina is next.

Chris Matyszczyk
3 min read

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.


ncstate.jpg

A new tagline for North Carolina?

Funny Or Die screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

Hardly a month goes by without some US state legislature getting into a state about all the different people in its midst.

Hardly a month goes by without Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff getting on his high horse (private plane, more likely) to fight what he and many others see as unjust anti-LGBT laws being peddled by certain state legislatures.

Last year, it was Indiana. Benioff, supported by many of his fellow tech luminaries, won that one handily.

Recently, it's been Georgia. Again the pressure exerted by Benioff and companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Twitter, Disney and Marvel brought results.

On Monday, Georgia governor Nathan Deal said he'd veto the so-called "religious liberty" bill. This allowed Georgia companies not to hire staff on the basis of purported religious beliefs.

The implication was that it would be just fine not to employ someone -- or serve them in your store or other business -- because they were, say, gay. The bill also sought to prevent government from taking those accused of discrimination to court.

Benioff celebrated by offering anyone who signs up for Salesforce's CNX16 Convention in Atlanta a 50 percent discount. If they enter "EQUALITY," of course. (There's nothing like mixing business with social justice.)

And now he and his cohorts of justice are off to North Carolina. This state has a prospective law that makes it illegal in Charlotte and other areas of local government for a transgender person to use a bathroom consistent with their gender self-identification.

North Carolina governor Pat McCrory told NBC News that opposition to this bill was "political correctness gone amok."

However, when corporate power starts to run amok against you -- Benioff says he wants to co-opt the CEO of Bank of America, which is headquartered in Charlotte -- it can be decisive. Yes, just like the power of biting humor.

So the online funsters at Funny Or Die thought they'd make their own contribution to the fight in North Carolina. It's a tourism ad with a difference.

Over happy images of the state's gorgeous scenery, a voice offers: "If you're grossed out when same-sex couples order wedding cakes, or if you're obsessed with who is in what bathroom or if you think religious liberty laws only apply to your religion, North Carolina is for you."

It ends with a new tagline for the state: "Nobody Cares."

There's something of a schism in many areas of the American body politic. Forces of self-styled tradition are digging in against what some might see as more humanistic, even patently sensible tendencies.

You'd think that state legislatures had better things to think about. Perhaps, they're merely struggling with their own private truths and fears.

Of course, the stoically dry might find it odd that tech luminaries fight discrimination in these states, while themselves struggling with discrimination when it comes to employing and valuing women. (Salesforce, for one, says it's doing something about that too.)

Ultimately, however, when the forces of money, technology and humor rise against you, it's rarely easy to win.

There's already a fear that Charlotte might lose the NBA All-Star Game, scheduled for next year.

And then there's the Final Four. One of the state's favorite teams will be appearing. You don't want them referred to as the Nobody Cares Tar Heels, do you?