Porn site blocks North Carolina access over LGBT law

The porn site xHamster has blocked access for residents in North Carolina, and released some surprising viewing statistics from the state, in response to the so-called ‘bathroom law’ introduced there last week.

The law, which was passed and signed by the state legislature last month, bans transgender people to use the facilities of their choice.

Now, porn giant xHamster has banned access to their site from the state, and also released statistics which they say show “incredible hypocrisy.” It appears that huge volumes of people there searching for terms like ‘gay’ and ‘shemale’ on the site.

Speaking to The Huffington Post, xHamster.com spokesman Mike Kulich, said the website believes in equality for everyone.

“We have spent the last 50 years fighting for equality for everyone and these laws are discriminatory which XHamster.com does not tolerate,” he said. “Judging by the stats of what you North Carolinians watch, we feel this punishment is a severe one. We will not standby and pump revenue into a system that promotes this type of garbage. We respect all sexualities and embrace them.”

Speaking about the search terms, he said, “Back in March, we had 400,000 hits for the term ‘Transsexual’ from North Carolina alone. People from that state searched ‘Gay’ 319,907 times,” he added.

EXCLUSIVE! XHamster Is Blacking Out Access For North Carolina Because Of Anti-LGBT Law!https://t.co/8BacrYvfSt pic.twitter.com/hbUhgQBmzW

— xHamster (@xhamstercom) April 11, 2016

Currently when North Carolina users attempt to access the site, they are met with a black screen which says ‘No Porn’, although Kulich said he is planning to replace it with a petition demanding the repeal of HB2.

North Carolina has already attracted international attention after rock star Bruce Springsteen cancelled a concert there in solidarity with the LGBT community. However, Kulich said he believes “porn has the power to do what Bruce Springsteen can’t.”

North Carolina is the latest state to introduce anti-LGBT legislation, and attract criticism in doing so. Earlier in the month Mississippi introduced a bill which allows religious organisations and businesses to discriminate against LGBT people. It earned the state a travel ban from the New York governor, and another concert boycott from Bryan Adams.

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