Of God and mammon in NC

North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore got tangled up in a fight over gay rights at the start of his political career. As a member of the University of North Carolina’s Student Congress, he led an effort to end funding for the Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association.

A recent Daily Tar Heel story on Moore’s early crusade cited his comment to The News & Observer in 1991. “The CGLA advocates the activities of homosexuals,” Moore said. “By virtue of homosexuality being an illegal activity, the code of the Student Congress prohibits us from allocating funds to a group that promotes illegal activity.”

Last week, Moore took a much different stance when he announced that the Republican-led House would not move a “religious freedom” bill. A similar measure had caused an outcry in Indiana over concerns that it would allow discrimination against gay people. Moore said the same wouldn’t happen in North Carolina. “This bill in its current format, at the current time, is not the proper path to go,” he said.

Could it be that Moore has changed his attitude? Uh, no. Moore and many of his fellow Republicans stepped back because, in addition to a deep reverence for God Almighty, they have a respect for the Almighty Dollar. Business leaders were telling Republican lawmakers that being a state seen as hostile to gay people is bad for business. Some companies, tourists and retirees would be reluctant to come to a state moving backward in regard to a major social issue on which the nation is increasingly taking the side of tolerance.

“We want to do everything we can when it comes to economic development to make sure we’re standing head and shoulders above the other states around us,” the House speaker from Kings Mountain said. “When you have business leaders from around the state coming in and saying, ‘We’ve got concerns,’ we’ve got to be mindful.”

Moore’s decision was good politics and good for the state. And it was reassuring to see that there is a place on the rightward horizon that this group of conservative lawmakers will not go beyond.

Nonetheless, that Republican lawmakers stopped when faced by a Chamber of Commerce revolt raises two interesting questions. The first is, just how serious are Republican leaders about these social issues? The second is, why did it take a blowup in Indiana and protests from North Carolina businesses to make legislative leaders aware that pushing divisive social issues pushes people and businesses away?

On the first question, it’s clear Rep. Gary Pendleton, a Republican and former chairman of the Wake County commissioners, wasn’t serious about same-sex marriage as a dire threat. He is serious, however, about being re-elected. He withdrew as a co-sponsor of the N.C. Religious Freedom Restoration Act at the request of 21 of his campaign contributors. “This bill will cause at least four members to be defeated,” Pendleton said. “Including me.”

Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger has his own bill on same-sex marriage. His bill would allow magistrates and register of deeds employees to refuse to conduct same-sex marriages if they have religious objections. The Senate leader said his bill will protect public employees “so they are not forced to abandon their religious beliefs to save their jobs.”

Berger’s bill is still alive – and it will keep alive the issue Republicans tried to escape last week. But when Moore backed off the religious freedom bill, Berger also softened his stance. In a statement, he said, “Senate Republicans are carefully assessing whether the constitution provides appropriate protections to religious liberty or if additional action is necessary.”

If Republican leaders really believe that same-sex marriage is a threat to religious freedom, how can they roll over when faced by CEOs worried about the bottom line? Do profits trump the prophets? Apparently so.

Then there’s the question: Why does North Carolina’s image matter now? The Republican-led legislature has spent the last few years making the Tar Heel State a national spectacle. There have been mass arrests in Moral Monday protests, a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit over limitations on voting, draconian cuts in unemployment insurance, a costly holdout against Medicaid expansion, tax cuts for the wealthy and underfunding of the schools and, just last week, another in a series of proposed limits on abortion.

Now Speaker Moore says it’s time to focus on North Carolina’s brand. Now? Doesn’t he see the dents in it as conservatives have tried to refashion the state?

Maybe it’s now because money, or the loss of it, is talking louder. Mercedes-Benz and Volvo have passed on putting a headquarters and a plant here. Meanwhile, tech companies prefer states that are progressive on social issues, and all companies want good schools. Maybe the message is sinking in that indulging conservative social and financial policies comes with a price that businesses – and voters – don’t want to pay.

This story was originally published April 25, 2015 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Of God and mammon in NC."