Advocacy is not generally part of EWH's mission. However, North Carolina's recently passed House Bill 2 aims to make discrimination against members of our community "legal." Therefore, EWH stands with many of our colleagues on this issue in denouncing the state's decision to pass this bill into law.

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Dear Governor McCrory,       

As a non-profit organization based in Durham and dedicated to public health, Engineering World Health wants to go on record in deep opposition to North Carolina House Bill 2. We ask you to act with all speed to reverse this law.

The law legalizes discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. This subjects our employees, interns and students to legal discrimination. This discrimination is reprehensible not only from a moral point of view but also from a public health point of view: the impact of stigma is a well-acknowledged factor that causes LGBT people to delay seeking medical care for both transmittable and non-transmittable diseases.

Further, North Carolina has been markedly successful until now in building a community of business leaders, scientists, engineers, researchers, educators and medical professionals.  HB2 puts this progress at risk as companies and individuals -- determined to reject discrimination -- boycott educational and business-related conferences in North Carolina and refuse to build or expand their businesses. 

We are proud to join with our colleagues at Duke University, Biogen, and BD, along with Wells Fargo, American Airlines, Apple, Google, Twitter, Starbucks, Hilton, Citibank, Dow Chemical, Northrup Grumman, Kellogg, eBay and over one hundred other companies in requesting that North Carolina take action to reverse this discriminatory law.

Sincerely,

Leslie J Calman, Ph.D.

CEO, Engineering World Health