
Elton John
Elton John, one of pop world's most iconic singers and musicians – and who now includes a "Sir" before his name, due to the knighthood he received from the British queen in 1998 – tore into North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory in a published op-ed post about the state's transgender law, calling it both "discriminatory" and "traumatic" to those in the LGBT community.
"McCrory has doubled down on his support for H.B. 2, the discriminatory bill requiring public school students to use restrooms for the gender they were assigned at birth," John wrote, referencing the state's suit against the Department of Justice to fight the feds' demand to North Carolina to stop engaging in a "pattern or practice of employment discrimination on the basis of sex," the Hill reported.
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John then decried the "millions in taxpayer dollars" McCrory would need to win the suit, and said the governor's "ignorance" at legislating on the matter without ever meeting with a transgender in person was a prime example of what's wrong in politics.
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"This brand of ignorance deliberately shuts out the perspective of an already marginalized community," John wrote, the Hill reported. "It's dangerous and it goes beyond bathrooms. As the father of two children, I would hope their world is free of discriminatory, hateful legislation like North Carolina's. Forcing transgender people to use the bathroom of a gender with which they don't identify isn't just inconvenient or impractical. For many, especially young students still grappling with their transition, it can be traumatic and at worst, unsafe."
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John scorned McCrory's inability to see the legislation as a "failure of compassion," and said "similar failures of compassion work against the rest of the LGBT community, against racial minorities and against anyone our society deems less than worthy because of their differences. All of them are people who need our compassion most."
John called on McCrory and his legislative supporters to "reverse course," and said "they need a lesson in compassion," the Hill reported.
He wrapped: "They need to recognize the existence of trans people, and they need to acknowledge that all people have a fundamental desire – and a fundamental right – to be treated fairly."