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Brad Paisley's Song About North Carolina: "Sit by Your Man"

Brad Paisley's Song About North Carolina: "Sit by Your Man"

Brad Paisley

On Jimmy Kimmel Live! country star Paisley delivers a tuneful protest against HB 2.

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Brad Paisley delivered a memorable take on North Carolina's House Bill 2 in an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! this week.

When host Kimmel asked the country star Tuesday night if he had anything to say about current events, Paisley said country music dealt with the issue of restroom use back in 1968. He then launched into, to the tune of Tammy Wynette's classic "Stand by Your Man," a song with lyrics including "In North Carolina, they're checking for vaginas if you want to use the can" and "Sit by your man."

Paisley's song does include some problematic language, including the inaccurate phrase that a transgender woman was "born a man." Nonetheless, Paisley's parody seems to be taking aim at the absurdity of the sweeping (and possibly illegal) law in North Carolina, which builds on a long history of anti-LGBT animus from elected officials in the Tar Heel State.

The infamous North Carolina law, among other things, bars transgender people from using the restroom that corresponds with the gender identity, in government buildings.

Watch Paisley's performance below, and below that, a person-on-the-street feature in which people are asked if they recognize unisex bathroom signage as such, or if, as Kimmel thought, the figure on the sign looks like a man with an erection.

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Brad Paisley's Song About North Carolina: "Sit by Your Man"

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.