title:  Tennessee Republican Leader Vows Punishing Tax Hike On Companies That Support LGBT Rights
text: It s amazing how quickly  free market values  go out the window when Republicans don t get their way.In Tennessee, House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick (R) vowed to start an economic hit list on businesses in the state that stood up for LGBT rights in the face of a recent discrimination bill similar to the one passed in North Carolina.The so-called  bathroom bill  would have forced trans students at public schools and colleges to use the gender on their birth certificate to determine which bathroom to use. It was an increasingly desperate response by conservatives to solve a non-existent problem in opposition to the expansion of gay rights across the country. Thankfully, Tennessee s Republican lawmakers got cold feet after watching states like North Carolina and Mississippi get economically devastated by their own versions of the law.However, McCormick was not happy about it. On the floor of the House he threw an epic tantrum that included floating the idea of using economic coercion in order to get businesses to drop their support for LGBT rights. His plan was to block companies who are seen as gay friendly from getting tax breaks like other businesses in the state. The ultimate goal appears to be to drive those businesses to bankruptcy or force them to comply with McCormick s narrow view of human rights. All these companies who tried to blackmail us over this thing, when they come for their corporate welfare checks next year, we need to have a list out and keep an eye on it. Note: McCormick s use of  Blackmail  here means democratic and economic expressions of protests.McCormick also accused people concerned with gay and trans rights of being unconcerned with gang violence. What do the two have to do with one another? Who knows, and certainly not McCormick. This weekend we had four people shot in Chattanooga,  McCormick said. But  our Chamber of Commerce is writing us letters about the bathroom bill. Now the reason they re not all fired up about the city of Chattanooga s handling of the gang problem is because the city of Chattanooga sends them money and funds their budget. And we don t. Guess what. We ain t gonna. The hypocrisy of creating a needless bill and then getting upset when people  waste time  opposing it is, of course, extremely rich.Like his counterparts in North Carolina, McCormick seems absolutely bewildered by the fact that the American people are not cool with his party s attempt to bully transgender people. Rather than reflect on the outrage and reassess his own beliefs, the Republican response has been to double down and accuse the opposition of being part of a vast  gay agenda  conspiracy.With his delusions intact, McCormick now wants to use his position to destroy businesses that stand with the LGBT community. It would be laughably desperate if it weren t so vile.Featured image via YouTube screengrab