Conservatives turn on PayPal over transgender bathroom support

With PayPal's recent announcement that it was canceling plans to open a new global operations center in North Carolina in protest of the state's new "transgender bathroom" bill, conservatives have responded in earnest.

The bill, titled "The Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act," prevents transgender people from using a public bathroom that does not correspond to their biological sex. It also prevents cities in North Carolina from allowing the practice.

Supporters say it stops men from claiming to identify as female just to gain access to ladies' bathrooms and locker rooms where women and underage girls could be left vulnerable. LGBTQ advocates insist the bill discriminates against transgendered by not allowing them to use bathrooms corresponding to the sex they identify as.

North Carolina Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09) had an epic response for PayPal, one which pointed out some uncomfortable truths that have gone viral:

PayPal does business in 25 countries where homosexual behavior is illegal, including 5 countries where the penalty is death, yet they object to the North Carolina legislature overturning a misguided ordinance about letting men in to the women’s bathroom?  Perhaps PayPal would like to try and clarify this seemingly very hypocritical position.

Evangelist Franklin Graham called PayPal the "Hypocrite of the Year" over the move, citing the same reasons as Pittenger, and mentioned specifically PayPal's efforts to offer their services to Cuba, even though gays and transgendered people could face execution there.

The American Family Association has taken things a step farther, canceling their PayPal account and calling on their supporters to do the same. "We are cancelling our use of PayPal and encourage other organizations, as well as the hundreds of thousands of individual AFA supporters, to do the same. Moral bankruptcy and sexual anarchy are now exposing our women and children to harm and abuse. As a pro-family organization that continually works to strengthen and protect families across America, we cannot sit idly by while a company like PayPal supports laws that put families at risk and punishes the state of North Carolina for protecting women and children. This is not about discrimination; this is about whether we want men to be allowed to enter the restrooms of our wives and daughters."

Consumers and businesses interested in alternatives to PayPal have several options. They include Merchant Inc., Amazon Payments, and Serve from American Express.