Amazon may be considering LGBTQ rights in their HQ2 decision, but should also consider other factors.
In this economy, you hold on to the job you get. But imagine working for a company at a job you love. Now your company is setting up a new headquarters, and they want you to move to it. Your company will pay for your relocation. But there’s a problem. The place they want to move to hates you. They’ve made it legal to fire you for no reason other than being you and they’re fighting to dissolve your marriage to your partner. You won’t have easy access to healthcare, and you might not even have full control over your body. Insurance can be denied to you. You could lose the right to adopt. You may be more likely to face harassment due to the color of your skin or your religion. You’ll be more likely to be the victim of a hate crime.
Do you move?
Probably not. You’ll probably stay put and find another job. Therefore, your company will lose you, and you’ll lose an important paycheck. That’s the struggle many workers face when their company decides to move to a conservative state. You may be giving up rights or safety if you’re a woman, an LGBTQ person, or a person of color. You may have to go across state lines for healthcare, face completely legal discrimination, or live in the shadow of a colossal statue of a confederate general who fought to keep your ancestors enslaved. Why go through that for a company that doesn’t think of the rights and safety of their workers first?
Cities have been fighting each other to get Amazon to place their new headquarters (HQ2) in their city. Each wants the enormous economic boost and the new jobs it would bring. However, thanks to conservative attitudes, some cities may be out of the running.
In This Article:
What HB2 Did to North Carolina
Protestors marching against North Carolina’s HB2 law. Photo: Jenny Warburg
HB2 was better known as the “bathroom bill” in North Carolina. Not only was it similar to many anti-LGBTQ laws in that it legalized discrimination against people based on their sexuality or gender identity, it also placed limits on where transgender people could use the bathroom. It stated that trans people would have to use bathrooms inconsistent with their gender, the wrong bathrooms. Women would be forced in the men’s room, and men in the ladies’ room. This drew the ire of not only socially liberal people, but moderates as well, who saw the bill as anti-science, hateful, and bigoted. Businesses began refusing to do business in North Carolina, as the state became known for it’s legalized discrimination and invasive bathroom laws.
Estimates on the financial impact HB2 had on North Carolina vary. Early on, estimations were around half a billion dollars in lost revenue, and over 1,600 jobs lost. However, later figures found that HB2 will cost the state over $3.76 billion and 2,900 jobs lost due to their discriminatory law. North Carolina, possessing one of the 10 largest state economies in the United States, was able to withstand the heavy financial blow, but other states could be bankrupted by such a substantial hit. Existing laws on the books may hurt states again, as Amazon may decide to do what Paypal and other businesses did to North Carolina: avoid states that support hate completely.
Legalized Discrimination and LGBTQ Rights
11 out of 20 HQ2 finalists have anti-LGBTQ laws.
Did you know that in most U.S. states, you can be kicked out of your home for being gay? I’m not talking about the home you live with your parents in, I’m talking about your landlord evicting you for being gay. Bosses can legally fire LGBTQ employees as well. Some states even allow doctors to withhold medical care, stating that they won’t help LGBTQ people. Others allow discrimination in school, forbidding LGBTQ teachers to discuss their spouses, forbidding LGBTQ history and sex education from being taught, and even forbidding transgender children from using the correct bathrooms. The president supports these measures. Discrimination is alive and well in the United States, and out of the 20 cities Amazon was considering for a second headquarters, 11 are in states that have legalized discrimination against LGBTQ people.
Few states protect LGBTQ people, and many “red” states actively discriminate.
Sexism
Texas Law has made opening abortion clinics extremely difficult. As such, there are few in the state, and many restrictions on abortions
The states that attack LGBTQ rights are also likely to be states that attack women’s rights. They might attack a woman’s access to affordable healthcare through Planned Parenthood, birth control prescriptions, or abortion rights. Some states, like Texas, have so few places to perform abortions that many appointments are delayed weeks or months. Women have to travel hundreds of miles multiple times to exercise their right to control their own bodies and lives. This also makes the abortions more difficult, as abortions performed later in pregnancy are more complicated than those performed in the first 8 weeks, when most abortions are performed via pills. Because of Texas’ laws, women have difficulty controlling their health in Texas. Amazon may choose to protect women’s rights to healthcare and their own bodies by choosing a city that supports women’s rights.
Racism
White nationalists, Nazis, and KKK members unite in Charlottesville, VA to defend a Confederate statute. Photo: Edu Bayer, New York Times
Racism in the United States is impossible to ignore, and it exists in every state in the U.S. However, southern states have a nasty way of making the past ugliness of slavery an everyday reminder. These are states that have kept monuments to people who fought to defend slavery standing tall above their citizens. They serve as a constant reminder of the horrors of the past and the existing racism of the present.
Beyond that, other states have passed unconstitutional laws allowing police officers to ask for someone’s documentation for any reason they see fit. This, obviously, lead to racial targeting of people who seem to be of Mexican descent along the southern border. This was a law legalizing racial profiling.
Other states, like Kansas, North Carolina, North Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin have passed GOP-backed voter ID laws, after their studies showed that it would disenfranchise non-white voters. The laws have individually been attacked for their racist motives, but have not been banned nationwide yet. In fact, they likely won’t, as the president, once again, supports the laws.
Should Amazon choose a state that has made itself unwelcome to non-whites and women? Probably not. However, we don’t yet know if Amazon is considering these factors.
Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos. Photo: Ian C. Bates, The Washington Post
Jeff Bezos seems to be politically between the two parties. His donations, both political and private, seem to bend towards libertarianism. Amazon itself, seems to as well, as regulations on workplace conditions would likely hurt the company. So you’d expect Bezos to care little about LGBTQ rights. However, Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, donated $2.5 million in defense of same-sex marriage in Washington. That donation was—at the time—the largest individual contribution in support of LGBTQ rights in the United States. Bezos seems truly concerned about individual civil rights, and LGBTQ rights in particular.
Bezos has allowed his other holding, The Washington Post, go without his editorializing. He has freed the newspaper to do something he thinks is absolutely vital: report the news without interference. Bezos did, however, make one editorial suggestion. He suggested that the Washington Post should have an expert on gender issues on staff. That’s it, but it shows that Bezos knows the importance of gender equality and transgender rights, at least from the perspective of accurately reporting the news. Does that translate into practice? It seems so. Amazon’s non-discrimination policies protect LGBTQ people. Why would Bezos create a new headquarters in a state that doesn’t?
Amazon’s Move
Amazon employees at Dublin Pride
Amazon seems to be making LGBTQ rights a core part of their decision. They asked Governor Roy Cooper about HB2 and discrimination when discussing North Carolina as a potential location for the new headquarters. An Amazon executive reportedly groaned when finding out about a Georgia bill that would restrict funding for same-sex adoption. Though Amazon has not explicitly stated it, LGBTQ rights seem to be an important factor in their decision. However, many of these conservative states also have lax tax laws. Therefore, Amazon must choose between low taxes and LGBTQ rights.
If Amazon wants to make a stand for LGBTQ rights, they can easily do so where it will hurt conservative lawmakers who attack these rights: their wallets. Amazon could show the country that attacking civil rights in the name of conservativism is hurtful to an economy. Make those who would otherwise care little about social injustice stand up for equal rights, and against sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, religious persecution, and bigotry. Amazon has a lot of power here to make a difference, and Jeff Bezos seems like the type of person eager to make a difference.
Sources: