Sera Arcaro: Women don’t need ‘protecting’

Regarding the March 29 news article “McCrory: Inaccurate news coverage to blame for LGBT law backlash”: Gov. Pat McCrory is defending HB2 by claiming it protects women and young girls.

As a woman with a young daughter, I am offended that McCrory is using us as justification for this discriminatory law. There is a history of causing harm in the name of “protecting women.”

African-American men were lynched to “protect women.” Access to abortions and other health services are restricted to “protect women.” We are not damsels in distress except when Republicans pass laws distressing us.

If Republicans really care about women and girls, they should care about all of us, including LGBT women, minority women, immigrant women, working women, Muslim women, women seeking abortions, etc.

Thankfully, women are no longer protected from the right to vote, so I am looking forward to electing a new governor and state leaders who will protect all North Carolinians from patriarchal and bigoted legislation.

This story was originally published April 2, 2016 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Sera Arcaro: Women don’t need ‘protecting’."