Apple, 67 other businesses file against North Carolina's HB2 'bathroom' law
Roger Fingas
Apple and 67 other businesses have signed a new amicus brief, supporting the U.S. Justice Department's efforts to halt the enforcement of HB2, a North Carolina law forcing people to use bathrooms corresponding to their birth gender.
The brief was filed on Friday in conjunction with the pro-LGBT organization Human Rights Campaign, according to Re/code. It claims that HB2, passed by the North Carolina legislature in March, represents a kind of "invidious discrimination" hampering the companies' ability to recruit and retain workers in the state.
The corporations also try to make a grander economic case, suggesting that North Carolina has already lost over 1,700 jobs and half a billion dollars because of the law.
Apart from Apple, some other technology companies signed to the amicus include Airbnb, Cisco, eBay, IBM, Intel, Logitech, Microsoft, and PayPal.
In the United States at least, Apple has become an aggressive supporter of LGBT causes. In April for instance the company attacked Mississippi legislation allowing businesses to use religion to deny service to LGBT individuals. A month prior, CEO Tim Cook in fact signed an open letter — also drafted by the Human Rights Campaign — calling on North Carolina to repeal HB2.
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