PayPal only cares about LGBT media attention
By Ryan Maass
web posted May 2, 2016
Internet payment provider PayPal was one of the first major entities to formally withdraw from North Carolina in protest of the state's controversial "bathroom law" - a new ordinance requiring transgender residents may only use the public restroom corresponding with the gender on their birth certificate.
Like Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam's announcements after the fact, PayPal was openly embraced by the liberal media for its allegedly brazen progressivism. Hundreds of companies in the state voiced opposition to the law, but PayPal spoke with its money by canceling its $3.6 million investment plan in Charlotte.
"Our decision is a clear and unambiguous one," the company said in a statement. "As a company that is committed to the principle that everyone deserves to live without fear of discrimination simply for being who they are, becoming an employer in North Carolina, where members of our teams will not have equal rights under the law, is simply untenable."
Of course, PayPal's image as a stalwart defender of civil liberties for the LGBT community lasts only as long as one is willing to ignore its other investments - which includes a global operations center in Malaysia, where gays, transgenders, and virtually all other members of the LGBT community are whipped and jailed.
Targeting HypocrisyThe American Family Association was quick to point out PayPal's astonishing hypocrisy, announcing they were planning to boycott the service in a press release on Wednesday.
In the announcement, AFA doubled down on its support for North Carolina's new law, while also condemning PayPal for punishing the state while rewarding a country with its patronage where rights for LGBT members are far worse.
"What most people don't know is, PayPal built a global operations center in Malaysia where homosexuals are publicly whipped and jailed," the statement read. "Ironically, PayPal is boycotting North Carolina for enacting a common sense and simple law requiring people to use a restroom consistent with their biological gender."
It added: "As corporations continue to bully states across America, we will continue to expose their hypocrisy and combat their secular agenda."
AFA also released a full-page ad, which reads like an open letter to PayPal:
"How can you build your global operations center in Malaysia where LGBT individuals are whipped and jailed...but you boycott North Carolina for enacting a law requiring people to use a restroom consistent with their biological gender?"
It continues: "Shouldn't you be boycotting Malaysia rather than the people of North Carolina?"
Battling AgendasObviously, the AFA has an agenda just like PayPal does, demonstrated by its obvious endorsement for North Carolina's bathroom law. By all reasonable accounts, the ordinance is rather absurd - and seems almost impossible to enforce without criminally invading individual privacy.
But AFA has a point - any hardships imposed on the LGBT community by the state of North Carolina pale in comparison to what they would face in Malaysia simply for being who they are.
The fact of the matter is PayPal hopped on a bandwagon to score PR points with those who are oblivious to the plight of oppressed peoples in other parts of the world. PayPal has every right to do business where it pleases, but its customers should not be fooled by its charade in Charlotte. 
A "loud and proud libertarian headbanger", Ryan Maass strives to put a fresh face on capitalism and individual liberties.Read more at EpicTimes.com where this originally appeared.