Waldo Lydecker's Journal.: Here's the first 38 North Carolina businesses laying a claim for the right to reject your trade [UPDATE- How North Carolina Values Coalition Padded Its List of Corporate "Supporters" of Discrimination]

UPDATE: The March 31 update, with new discriminating businesses, is here.

This post has been revised and updated here.

After Governor McCrory said his office was hearing from lots of businesses supporting passage of HB2, but wouldn't identify any, people rightly wondered if the claim was like the list of Sarah Palin's gay friends- ludicrously short, if not entirely imaginary.

Now comes Tami Fitzgerald at North Carolina Values Coalition. Having gone and gotten Christian businesses immunity under law for discriminating against anyone they please in North Carolina, only 38 of 334 she claims have signed up are willing to stand up for their faith in public.

It's a start. I have long argued what we need is a list of discriminatory businesses so we know where our money's no good. And so their owners can see that the free market cuts both ways.

Here's the list of businesses whose owners admit they are so rarin' to discriminate, you have to wander in by accident to find out:

Sallie Caldwell, S & S Cleaning Service, LLC, Charlotte NC 28212
Reese Cao, XG Technologies, Inc., Charlotte NC 28277
Jennifer Champion, Total Life Changes
Sam Cowles, Main Street Investments, LLC, Concord NC 28025
Mark & Lora Godwin, Mark Godwin Family Farms Inc., Newton Grove, NC 28366
David Griffin, Griffin Tile & Marble Inc., Mint Hill, NC 28227
David & Judith Hale, Lighthouse Electric of Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28278
Marilyn Harding, Marilyn H. Harding, LPC, PLLC, Cary, NC 27511
James Hartsell, Edifice Inc., Charlotte, NC 20208
Dusten Harward, D Harward Marketing, Davidson, NC 28036
Debra Hasty, Hasty Home Resources
H. Ralph Henderson, Omnichannel Productions, Charlotte, NC 28213
Tim Herlihy, Occupational Health Concepts, Charlotte, NC 28269
Rebekah Hopkins, Beethoven's Piano Revelers Studio
Jana Huffstetler, Collision Center of Stanley County, Albemarle, NC 28001
Gregory Humphrey, Heaven’s Best Carpet Cleaning, Charlotte NC
Cheryl Jones, ICI Lamp Company, Charlotte, NC 28212
Sergey Kholod, Serglandscape Company, Indian Trail, NC 28079
Tony Mazzone, Comfort Security, Pineville, NC 28134
Adam and Michelle Mills, Mills Inc.
Bill Montross, Christian Business Men Connections, Charlotte, NC
Jesse Newton, Green Branch Construction, Inc., Charlotte, NC 28213
Kristina Nieshalla, CB HPW Realtors, Raleigh, NC 28615
Ronald Obie, WCRG- Wood Coatings Research Group, Greensboro, NC 29407
James Potts, Overhead Door Co. of Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 29269
Justin Reeder, Superior Wash Southeast, Charlotte, NC
David Benham, Benham Real Estate Group, Concord, NC 28027
Lila Sanacore, Prayerful Touch Massage, Matthews, NC 28105
Doug Schmeuszer, Sunbelt Packaging LLC, Charlotte, NC
Tim Steele, Thermal Services, Inc. Charlotte, NC 28270
Gretchen, Tate, God’s Glamorous Girls, Charlotte, NC
Lisa Todd, Todd Group, Raleigh, NC 27615
Keith Vance, Vance Resource LLC, Charlotte, NC 28211
Maria Vari, Strategic Resource Development, Statesville, NC 28677
Elizabeth Walker, Oexning Silversmiths, Inc., Bakersville NC 28705
Paul, Weaver, AWPC, Inc., Matthews, NC 28106
Michael Wolff, KC Solutions Group, Charlotte, NC
~~Keith Zimmerman, Hanesbrands, Inc., Winston-Salem, NC 27105~~

NOTE: This list is taken, verbatim, from the press release of the North Carolina Values Coalition. City locations are taken from public records, in order to aid readers in avoiding doing business with companies who support the discriminatory House Bill 2, passed by the North Carolina General Assembly in March, 2016, and to aid readers in not confusing them with other, similarly named businesses that might exist in or out of North Carolina. It is also intended to spare customers unexpected denials of service should they happen into a business that has declared its support of HB 2 without making it public otherwise. Regrettably, as of March 29, 2016, North Carolina Values Coalition claims another 296 North Carolina businesses that allegedly support HB 2 but are unwilling to make that known publicly lest they be held accountable in the free market by those whose business they want to reject anyway.

The list is not intended to advocate for, or encourage, any form of rude behavior toward any business. They and their owners are entitled to their views, and they have the law on their side. If anything, this list will assist them in their desie to let North Carolinians know that the support HB 2, as the North Carolina Values Coalition press release states. If any business has been omitted that wishes to be added, please contact us. If any business listed wishes to support HB 2's legalization of minority group discrimination and still seeks the trade of any group the law allows discrimination against, kindly forward an explanation of how you get to that juxtaposition of ideas and we will gladly append it.

UPDATE, March 29, 6 pm:

North Carolina Values Coalition admitted today it didn't vet the names of the 332 "business owners/leaders" it claimed signed a letter supporting HB2's passage that was delivered to Gov. McCrory. The climbdown came after Hanes Brands issues a press release stating it had taken no position on HB 2 and that Keith Zimmerman, the Technical Research Manager who signed for the company, is at the protoplasm level of the corporate hierarchy.

Even better, Tami Fitzgerald's assistant, who comes off sounding like Bubble in AbFab, admitted she has no idea if the list is accurate at all:

Mueller acknowledged the NC Values Coalition did not independently confirm the identities of everyone who signed on in support of the law and whether they are actually business leaders.

The News & Record asked Mueller what the chance was that more names on the list might not represent business leaders authorized to speak for their companies.