From all walks of life, people are protesting North Carolina’s controversial ‘bathroom bill’ in their own ways. Some North Carolinians are expertly trolling the governor by calling his office when they use the bathroom, Bruce Springsteen outright cancelled his upcoming concert in the state in protest, and now Cyndi Lauper and Against Me! are showing a third way.
While the ’80s pop star has no plans to cancel her Raleigh tour stop, she told TMZ that she’s donating all of the proceeds to the LGBT-advocating non-profit Equality North Carolina. She also plans to call for the repeal of the law known by its bill number, HB2, while on stage.
“I think the best way I can do my part is to turn my show into an entire day to build public support to repeal HB2,” she said.
While Lauper said she had no issue with other musicians boycotting the state, she feels that she needs to show up to support her LGBT fans in the state.
“I would play in North Carolina. I think that people need us there,” Lauper said in a clip from TMZ. “Wherever there’s a shut-out, wherever people don’t accept other people, the other people need you.”
Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace stated a similar argument on Twitter. Instead of cancelling her show in Durham, Grace (who is a trans woman) wants to use the concert to raise money to fight the law, donating proceeds from her show to Time Out Youth.
It was suggested to me in an interview that we might cancel our May 15th show in Durham, NC because of the states HB2 bill. Hell no! (1/2)
— Laura Jane Grace (@LauraJaneGrace) March 30, 2016
I'm even more eager to play North Carolina 'cause of the bill! Let me know if there's any activist groups that can come table the show (2/2)
— Laura Jane Grace (@LauraJaneGrace) March 30, 2016
To put my money where my mouth is we're donating the guarantee from our May 15th show in Durham,NC to @TimeOutYouth https://t.co/UhT593lStZ
— Laura Jane Grace (@LauraJaneGrace) April 13, 2016
Grace recently spoke with BuzzFeed about her upcoming show and applauded acts like Springsteen and Bryan Adams for cancelling their shows, but still felt there was work to do.
“Bryan Adams and Bruce Springsteen aren’t transgender,” Grace said. “For them to say, ‘I think this bill is messed up and I’m not going to go here and be part of the state,’ that seems like the effort of an ally, which is really commendable.”
But Grace said that the transgender people who live in North Carolina don’t have the option to boycott the state. “They live here. They pay taxes. They are prisoners to it.”
Everyone from non-profits and U.S. senators to porn sites and Ringo Starr have come out against this law. Public pressure even forced Gov. Pat McCrory to walk back on some of the law’s language in an executive order (while still leaving its general nastiness intact).
