Officials at Durham-based Duke
University are calling on North Carolina lawmakers to repeal a law
that targets the LGBT community.
According to the Huffington
Post, Duke officials denounced the law “in the strongest
possible terms.”
“Scholars from states and
municipalities that have imposed bans on government travel to North
Carolina have been unable to travel to Duke to continue vital ongoing
research partnerships or attend academic conferences,” the
university's president and provost said in a statement. “Prospective
students, faculty and staff, as well as Duke alumni planning visits
to campus, have voiced concerns about whether they will find a
hospitable environment in North Carolina. These developments have the
potential to limit the value that Duke and other colleges and
universities contribute to the state, namely producing trained
graduates and expanding the frontiers of knowledge.”
North Carolina's law, House Bill 2,
prohibits cities from approving LGBT protections and bars students
attending public institutions from using the bathroom that does not
conform to their gender at birth.
Over the weekend, Republican Governor
Pat McCrory said he has no regrets over signing the bill despite
calls for its repeal from politicians, business leaders and
celebrities.
(Related: North
Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory has no regrets over signing anti-gay law.)
The University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, North Carolina's largest public university, has also
criticized the law.