NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Sean Henry, the president of Tennessee’s NHL team, is stunned he even has to explain why he hopes state legislators will snub bills similar to North Carolina’s transgender bathroom law, which has consumed that state for months and scared off businesses and sporting events.
The Nashville Predators team is among about 300 companies, ranging from health-care giant HCA to FedEx, joining under the moniker Tennessee Thrives to oppose bathroom and religious objection bills, which they consider discriminatory and bad for business. Companies in other GOP-led states have had success voicing opposition under similar names: Georgia Prospers, Opportunity West Virginia, Missouri Competes.
“I honestly cannot believe that in 2016 I’m actually asked a question as to why I would support anti-discrimination groups,” Henry said. “I think the real question is: who hasn’t joined?”
After the United States Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, social conservatives turned to statehouses, seeking state laws to let businesses, pastors and government refuse services to LGBT people based on their religious objections to same-sex unions.
Social progressives hoping to hold back that tide appealed to citizens’ sense of equality and people’s pocketbooks.