March 25, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
RALEIGH, N.C. --- Biotech and pharmaceutical companies with presences in North Carolina are condemning a bill that blocked local governments from passing measures that provide additional protection to LGBT citizens.
On its Twitter page, Biogen , one of the largest pharma companies in the Research Triangle Park area, condemned the legislation and said the company supports “the power of difference.” Boston-based Biogen, which employs more than 1,000 in North Carolina, provided a link to a company perspectives blog posting on its website expressing its support of diversity.
“Without diversity, our ability to solve complex problems—the very foundation on which our company is built—would be difficult to navigate. This is why we have been focused on growing a sustainable workplace culture of excellence and inclusion. We believe that this is best accomplished by eliminating barriers and enhancing access to opportunities and resources. It means embracing and harnessing the potential of people of all backgrounds. Inclusion allows us to maximize the value from our workforce and the communities we serve,” Biogen said in its perspectives posting.
Bayer , which has its crop sciences headquarters in the RTP area, also took to Twitter to voice its displeasure, the News & Observer of Raleigh reported. The company decried the legislation, saying it has “zero tolerance” for discrimination.
“We continue to support all of our employees & remain on the side of equality,” the company tweeted, according to the N&O.
Dow also tweeted its displeasure with the new legislation, urging the legislature to focus on laws that make the state more competitive.
It was not apparent if GlaxoSmithKline , which has a large manufacturing facility in Zebulon, used its social media platforms to condemn the legislation.
North Carolina’s House Bill 2, which was passed in a special session, bars transgender people from using public restrooms of the sex they identify with and forces them to use restrooms of the sex listed on their birth certificate. The legislation was a response to a local anti-discrimination law passed in Charlotte that provides transgender people the legal right to use a public restroom of the sex they identify with. The new legislation nullified that local ordinance. The new statewide protections extend to race, religion, color, national origin and biological sex—but not sexual orientation or gender identity, NPR reported.
One reason many businesses are voicing their opposition to the new state legislation has to do with competitive hiring. Lee Badgett, an economist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, told the N&O that corporations tend to “tout cultures of nondiscrimination” for competitive reasons.
“In a bottom-line sense, businesses are worried about being able to recruit and retain the best employees, and laws like this are things they point to as making that harder,” Badgett told the N&O.
