title:  Watch: Obama Forced To Reassure U.K. That Republicans Haven’t Completely Ruined United States Yet
text: In yet another unforced error committed by the Republican Party that hurts America s reputation, the recent surge in discriminatory laws against the LGBT community has caused alarm to the rest of the world. The U.K. even issued a travel alert to its citizens warning them of the risk of vacationing in places like North Carolina and Mississippi, given the new so-called  bathroom laws  and other forms of legislated bigotry. The U.S. is an extremely diverse society and attitudes towards LGBT people differ hugely across the country,  the advisory stated.  LGBT travelers may be affected by legislation passed recently in the states of North Carolina and Mississippi. Before traveling please read our general travel advice for the LGBT community. The advisory encouraged travelers to avoid potentially risky situations and  excessive physical shows of affection,  and to  exercise discretion  in rural areas.President Obama, who happens to be in London, was forced yet again to play  only adult in the room  and reassure the international community that Republican laws, while particularly nasty, haven t made the United States a nightmarish hellscape, and that most people, including residents in those states, want absolutely nothing to do with the Republican Party s brash forms of discrimination. I want everybody here in the United Kingdom to know that the people in North Carolina and Mississippi are wonderful people, they are hospitable people, they are beautiful states and you are welcome. You should come and enjoy yourselves. I think you ll be treated with extraordinary hospitality. Taking a moment to get a bit more personal, Obama said that he found the laws to be absurd, hateful and contrary to the values of America. I also think that the laws that have been passed there are wrong and should be overturned and they re in response to politics in part and some strong emotions that are generated by people, some of whom are good people but I just disagree with when it comes to respecting the equal rights of all people. Obama on Miss. & N. Carolina anti-LGBT laws:The  laws that have been passed there are wrong  https://t.co/wpXr2SNDa9https://t.co/zbeZyND63o  CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) April 22, 2016The  bathroom bills  are in response to fabricated scenarios in which male child predators would dress up as women to gain access to bathrooms with girls in them. This has never once happened. The law, instead, opens up members of the trans community to further harassment, violence, and stigmatization.Most Americans seem aware of this and protests against the bathroom bills have become widespread. In North Carolina, the state is hemorrhaging millions of dollars a month in lost business and boycotts while the Republican governor and legislature stubbornly refuse to concede that this plan was based on little more than ignorance and hate. In South Carolina, a similar bill was quickly killed in a desperate effort to avoid becoming the next North Carolina.Meanwhile, the president is forced to explain and defend America s pathetic treatment of its LGBT community, because his opposition in the Republican Party would rather focus on bullying trans people than address things like climate change, wealth inequality, healthcare reform or immigration.Featured image via Twitter