Paul Stam: Houston, other states have HB2-like laws

We are told that North Carolina is losing sporting events because of House Bill 2. Yet the Super Bowl is to be played in Houston where the law is the same as North Carolina. The 2016 NCAA Final Four was held in Houston immediately after voters rejected the Charlotte type of ordinance.

We are told that the ACC will remove championships from us because of HB2. But four of the championships removed from Greensboro landed in cities in South Carolina and Virginia that have virtually the same laws that are less protective of LGBT claims than those in Greensboro.

I attended the Triangle Commercial Real Estate Conference on Jan. 19. Gov. Roy Cooper spent most of his time claiming that HB2 had to be repealed for economic reasons, e.g. hotel cancellations. Yet we learned that in Wake County seven new hotels will open in 2017 and that occupancy rates were at a 10-year high. Are businesses fleeing the state?

Costar did not choose Charlotte but went to Richmond. Yet the laws in Richmond are less protective of LGBT claims than those in Charlotte.

We are told that we are losing tourists. But in 2016 tourists came to the Smoky Mountains National Park in record numbers.

I am confused.

The writer is a former state representative who served N.C. District 37.

This story was originally published February 7, 2017 at 7:42 PM with the headline "Paul Stam: Houston, other states have HB2-like laws."