19 more companies join petition to repeal House Bill 2

Nineteen more national companies have joined a Human Rights Campaign-sponsored petition calling on North Carolina legislators to repeal House Bill 2.

The new additions bring the total number of companies listed on the letter to 180.

The companies added this week include: Alcoa Inc., BASF Corporation, Ben & Jerry’s, Cascade Engineering, Dansko, Etsy, Green Mountain Power, Kickstarter, KPMG LLP, Live Nation Entertainment, New Belgium Brewing, New Seasons Market, Osceola Music, Patagonia, Self-Help, The Fresh Market, Vanguard, Warby Parker and Xerox Corporation.

“These businesses understand that discrimination is bad for North Carolina and will continue to speak out until Gov. McCrory and the General Assembly repeal this heinous attack on basic human dignity,” HRC president Chad Griffin said in a news release.

Gov. Pat McCrory has criticized HRC’s role in rallying corporate opposition, saying the group is “more powerful than the NRA.”

The Keep N.C. Safe Coalition, which supports House Bill 2, says it has gathered signatures from 393 business leaders, but it has released the names of only 68 – most of them small firms.

This story was originally published April 21, 2016 at 5:35 PM with the headline "19 more companies join petition to repeal House Bill 2."