The LGBT community and its allies are looking to President Obama to make the next move after North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed into law a bill that excludes sexual orientation and gender identity from state anti-discrimination protections and bars transgender individuals from choosing which restroom to use based on their gender identities.
Obama admin. is considering whether #NorthCarolina is ineligible for billions in federal $ because of anti-#LGBT law https://t.co/kYu1sZDpla
— Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal (@IvanEspinozaESQ) April 3, 2016
The White House ensured it could speak from the moral high ground on transgender issues by opening its first “all-gender restroom” last April.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was one of the first elected officials to retaliate against North Carolina’s law, signing an executive order banning non-essential state government travel to the state.
So, what action will the Obama administration take? White House press secretary Josh Earnest said on Monday that the new law was “mean-spirited” and that the White House was “taking a look” at its legal options. In the meantime, White House advisor Valerie Jarrett is taking a different approach to promoting LGBT acceptance, today hosting a day-long conference on gender stereotypes in toys and media with the White House Council on Women and Girls, the Department of Education, and the Media, Diversity, and Social Change Initiative at the University of Southern California.
Would Trump or Cruz hold a WH summit on gender stereotypes in kids' toys & media? Probably not, but the Obamas are: https://t.co/uXNAoQScKR
— Juliet Eilperin (@eilperin) April 6, 2016
Would Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton? We suspect the conference wasn’t President Obama’s idea.
Great event on breaking down gender stereotypes in toys today. Children should play, learn & imagine w/out limits https://t.co/GWjPSqJGHV
— Valerie Jarrett (@vj44) April 6, 2016
Author Rosalind Wiseman enlightened the panel about “good yelling” and dealing with boys. Her best-selling “Queen Bees and Wannabes” series inspired Tina Fey’s “Mean Girls,” and possibly Hillary Clinton’s demand that rival Bernie Sanders “change his tone” before she would agree to another debate.
“There is a difference between good yelling and bad yelling” says Rosalind Wiseman about dealing with boys -> pic.twitter.com/BZQjiEMwF4
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) April 6, 2016
Content creators need to discuss "Is this girl character a prop or is she plastic?” We should also show more co-gender play #WHgendersummit
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) April 6, 2016
Jarrett noted that women currently hold only 29 percent of high-paying STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) positions and suggested that “the TV, movies, and videos that kids watch, and the toys with which they play, can have a real impact on the skills they develop and their aspirations.”
Current threat level at the White House -> pic.twitter.com/hQGtQ3yBWW
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) April 6, 2016
Another slide from today’s WH panel on gender stereotypes -> pic.twitter.com/xXT3yr9rHy
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) April 6, 2016
It wouldn’t be a White House event without a “fact sheet,” which gives an overview of actions pledged by the Girl Scouts, Netflix, Scholastic, the Toy Industry Association, and more.
Check out our fact sheet on gender stereotypes in toys and tune in now! https://t.co/Z4jQAego93 https://t.co/1vmMbSW9ft
— Valerie Jarrett (@vj44) April 6, 2016
Or not.
@vj44 Your whole life is a complete waste of time
— Reveen (@hulahog63) April 6, 2016
Related:
Houston mayor calls voters who opposed city’s ‘bathroom bill’ transphobes
Gov. Greg Abbott, Hillary Clinton spar over Houston’s ‘bathroom ordinance’
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