RALEIGH, N.C. — About 500 people rallied Monday to defend a North Carolina law limiting protections for lesbian, gay, and transgender people, using cheers and a booming public address system to drown out a smaller counterprotest across the street.
The main rally on the grounds of the old Capitol was the largest demonstration yet by supporters of the law. Organizers aimed to strike back after more than two weeks of negative publicity along with condemnation from business leaders and other public figures.
Signs reading ‘‘No Men in Women’s Bathrooms’’ highlighted a single provision of the multifaceted law that has served as a major rallying point for conservatives: a measure requiring transgender people to use the bathroom corresponding to the sex listed on their birth certificate.
Rally participant June House said she believes people should use the bathrooms and locker rooms corresponding with their gender at birth. The issue is important to the Fayetteville resident because she ran a fitness center before retiring and continues to swim frequently at another gym.
‘‘When I come out of the shower, it’s a semi-nude situation. I think modesty and safety are not what they should be if cross-dressers are in there,’’ she said.
On a nearby sidewalk, nearly 100 people gathered in a counterprotest, holding signs such as ‘‘Bigotry is Bad for Business’’ and chanting: ‘‘They are up there preaching hate! They do not represent our state!’’ The chants were overwhelmed by the larger group.
The dueling demonstrations reflected a fervor that’s expected to keep the debate stoked through the legislative session later this month — and likely through fall elections that include a closely contested governor’s race.
Also on Monday, Representative Billy Richardson of Fayetteville, a Democrat, said he made a mistake in voting for the law at a special session late last month and urged its repeal. Richardson wrote in an op-ed piece for The Fayetteville Observer that he has been ‘‘haunted’’ by his hasty vote.
Richardson urged his colleagues to repeal the law. Because of the legislation, he said, ‘‘we now live in a state that has closed our state courts to citizens who suffer discrimination for practicing their Christian faith or other religious beliefs, or because of their race, color, national origin, age, sex, or disability.’’
He also said the law will cost North Carolina jobs as businesses look to other states ‘‘that have not taken this divisive path.’’
More than 130 corporate executives have signed a letter criticizing the law as discriminatory and seeking its repeal. PayPal said it would cancel its plans to bring 400 jobs to North Carolina because of the law. The venture capital arm of Google’s parent company said it won’t invest in any North Carolina startup businesses while the law is in effect.
Opponents of the law including the Reverend William Barber, president of North Carolina’s NAACP branch, have threatened civil disobedience when the legislative session starts on April 25 if the law isn’t repealed.
Those who support the law are also planning a rally outside the Legislature that day, said Mark Creech of the Christian Action League.
Creech told the crowd at his rally that a ‘‘smear campaign’’ has been deployed against a law that protects small business owners who want to follow their religious beliefs. ‘‘That smear campaign has resulted in unfounded criticism of the law,’’ he said.
He said women and children must be protected from predators who would use antidiscrimination measures as a pretense to enter the wrong restroom.
The state law was passed after Charlotte adopted a nondiscrimination ordinance allowing transgender people to use public restrooms in line with their gender identity.
The North Carolina law overrules LGBT antidiscrimination measures passed by local governments. It also excludes sexual orientation and gender identity from the state’s antidiscrimination policy, and prevents people from filing employment discrimination lawsuits in state courts.
In addition to the business executives urging Republican Governor Pat McCrory and GOP legislative leaders to repeal the law, government officials and celebrities have said they would not travel to North Carolina to work. Bruce Springsteen canceled his Greensboro concert Sunday because of the law.
Speakers defending the law at the main rally included Christian author Frank Turek, and Pentecostal minister Bishop Harry Jackson; and the Benham Brothers, the identical-twin real estate moguls who promote Christian causes.
McCrory and other Republicans have intervened in other North Carolina municipal matters, pushing back against what they consider interference by President Obama’s administration in state matters.
