The Cable

The Cable goes inside the foreign policy machine, from Foggy Bottom to Turtle Bay, the White House to Embassy Row.

Anti-Gay Law Has German Firm Saying ‘Nein’ to North Carolina

Deutsche Bank scuttles plans to add jobs in North Carolina due to the state's anti-gay law.

GettyImages-509339634
GettyImages-509339634

North Carolina’s controversial new law targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender citizens has been widely condemned by Apple, the NBA, and Bruce Springsteen. Now, an international company has joined the chorus.

North Carolina’s controversial new law targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender citizens has been widely condemned by Apple, the NBA, and Bruce Springsteen. Now, an international company has joined the chorus.

On Tuesday, Germany’s Deutsche Bank announced it would freeze plans to create 250 new jobs at its Cary, North Carolina, location after the state passed legislation limiting the ability of transgender people to use bathrooms or locker rooms by requiring citizens of the state to only use the facilities that match the gender listed on their birth certificates. The German bank employs about 900 people at its software application development center in Cary, and had announced the growth plans last September.

“We take our commitment to building inclusive work environments seriously,” John Cryan, chief executive of Germany’s largest bank, said in a statement Tuesday. “We’re proud of our operations and employees in Cary and regret that as a result of this legislation we are unwilling to include North Carolina in our U.S. expansion plans for now.”

The Deutsche Bank move could spur other German companies to follow suit — and that could have a surprisingly strong impact on North Carolina.

The German American Chamber of Commerce of the Southern U.S. says that German firms have created more than 30,000 jobs in North Carolina. German companies own $436 million in real estate there, and there are roughly 236 German subsidiaries in the state.

Yvonne Bendinger-Rothschild, executive director of the European-American Chamber of Commerce New York, told Foreign Policy Tuesday she expects some of these business to leave or stop investing in there because of the controversial new law.

“I think there definitely will be fallout over this,” she said. “This for many companies is also a corporate-social responsibility issue, which they committed to internationally on a corporate level, and something that their shareholders will be looking at.”

With the cancellation, Deutsche Bank joins PayPal, which scuttled plans to open a global operations center in Charlotte and invest $3.6 million in the facility. Springsteen has canceled a concert in the Tar Heel state because of the law. Apple, Facebook, American Airlines, the NBA, and Google have also condemned it. The mayors of Washington , DC, San Francisco, Seattle, New York City and Atlanta all have banned non-essential travel there.

Photo credit: SEAN GALLUP/Getty Images

More from Foreign Policy

Newspapers in Tehran feature on their front page news about the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.
Newspapers in Tehran feature on their front page news about the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.

Saudi-Iranian Détente Is a Wake-Up Call for America

The peace plan is a big deal—and it’s no accident that China brokered it.

Austin and Gallant stand at podiums side by side next to each others' national flags.
Austin and Gallant stand at podiums side by side next to each others' national flags.

The U.S.-Israel Relationship No Longer Makes Sense

If Israel and its supporters want the country to continue receiving U.S. largesse, they will need to come up with a new narrative.

Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Moscow Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Moscow Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.

Putin Is Trapped in the Sunk-Cost Fallacy of War

Moscow is grasping for meaning in a meaningless invasion.

An Iranian man holds a newspaper reporting the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in Tehran on March 11.
An Iranian man holds a newspaper reporting the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in Tehran on March 11.

How China’s Saudi-Iran Deal Can Serve U.S. Interests

And why there’s less to Beijing’s diplomatic breakthrough than meets the eye.