Although opponents of North Carolina's controversial transgender bathroom law have claimed that corporate backlash will cause huge economic losses, Lt. Gov. Dan Forrest said Wednesday that the state's economy is doing "extremely well" despite small losses suffered from HB 2-related backlash.
Since North Carolina passed a bill last March that prohibits local governments from forcing businesses to allow people to access bathrooms consistent with their gender identity, a number of corporations have responded to the so-called "anti-LGBT" law by either changing plans to expand to the state or by canceling previously scheduled events or moving them out of the state.
As PayPal, Deutsche Bank, NBA, NCAA and various entertainers have canceled their plans to move, perform or host championship and all-star events in the state, that has propelled liberal critics of the law to proclaim that the law is detrimental to the state's economy.
Various reports and studies have been published proclaiming that North Carolina could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in gross domestic product and a University of California Los Angeles study produced last year proclaimed that North Carolina could lose upwards of $5 billion in GDP over HB 2-related consequences every year.
Despite the fact that so many businesses and organizations have spoken out against HB 2, North Carolina continues to rank as one of the top states for businesses.
In November, Forbes and Site Selection magazine both ranked North Carolina as the No. 2 state in the nation for business. In July, CNBC ranked the state as the No. 5 state for business. Meanwhile, Chief Executive Magazine polled 513 CEOs across the nation last May, who ranked North Carolina as the No. 3 best state in the nation for business.
"We are doing extremely well on the economic side and doing all the right things as Republicans to get our economy back in order again," Forest said during a special Family Research Council webcast hosted by FRC President Tony Perkins.
"We have created hundreds of thousands of new jobs over the last couple of years and businesses are still moving here and people are moving here in record numbers."
