Gillespie wins key backing after vowing to oppose transgender bathroom bills
By Laura Vozzella September 30 at 7:00 AM
RICHMOND — Republican Ed Gillespie won the endorsement of an influential Northern Virginia business group after privately assuring members that he would oppose any bills dictating which bathrooms transgender people must use — a new promise that shocked conservative backers.
The gubernatorial candidate “vowed to oppose bills like North Carolina’s HB2 that would threaten Virginia’s reputation as an open and welcoming Commonwealth,” Jim Corcoran, president of the Northern Virginia Chamber, said in a written statement announcing the endorsement by its political action arm, NOVABIZPAC.
He was referring to North Carolina’s now-repealed law, known as HB2, mandating that transgender people use the bathroom corresponding with the sex on their birth certificates. The law faced an intense backlash, including economic boycotts and job losses, with sports leagues relocating games and companies nixing expansions.
In an interview Friday, Corcoran said Gillespie promised to oppose similar legislation two weeks ago, during a private interview with the 25-member board. He said that position factored into the board’s decision to back Gillespie over his Democratic rival, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, who has long supported LGBT rights. Corcoran said Gillespie made the vow after the board expressed concerns about HB2. “We stated that we are an open and welcoming state here, we don’t want anything that is going to persuade persons that this is not a conducive place to do business,” Corcoran said.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/gillespie-wins-key-backing-after-vowing-to-oppose-transgender-bathroom-bills/2017/09/29/2a7eb1e8-a54c-11e7-b14f-f41773cd5a14_story.html
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