Brad Paisley mocks North Carolina’s bathroom law on Kimmel
By Hector Cruz
Brad Paisley sings about North Carolina’s HB2 bathroom law on Jimmy Kimmel Live
Brad Paisley waded into politics with a song ridiculing North Carolina’s controversial HB2 bathroom law during a visit to Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday night. The country singer did so by re-working Tammy Wynett’s “Stand By Your Man,” explaining in the tune how easy it is to get past your prejudices and “sit by your man.”
Paisley – sporting a Kimmel for Vice President t-shirt – broke out his guitar after being prompted by host Jimmy Kimmel to demonstrate what current events he sings about. “We were way ahead of that in our format. Country music dealt with this in the ’60s,” Paisley said of the genre’s history of social commentary, after referencing Kimmel’s earlier segment in which he discussed confusing restroom logos, and how he would deal with them if he were to become vice president.
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He then delivered an acoustic version of the song as a response to the bill that requires transgender people to use the bathroom that corresponds with the gender on their birth certificate instead of the one they currently identify as. Paisley sang:
"“Sometimes it’s hard to be a woman / especially when you were born a man / In North Carolina, they’re checkin’ for vaginas / If you want to use the can / I say sit by your man / we’re all just human beings / He’s just a human peeing / in the stall right next to you / Sit by your man / Why is this such a big deal / Hike up your dress and take a stand / and sit by your man”"
Watch Paisley’s performance below:
The singer’s stance is similar to various other musicians who have spoken out against the state’s bathroom bill. Maroon 5, Nick Jonas and his tour mate Demi Lovato – who later dueted with Paisley at the end of the show on their new country song “Without a Fight” – have cancelled their performances in North Carolina, while others like Cyndi Lauper and Dave Matthews have opted to donate the profits from their shows towards fighting against the law in a show of solidarity with the transgender community.
Lovato recently made headlines by wearing a shirt emblazoned with the gender neutral bathroom logo that Kimmel joked looked like a “guy with a boner” during a performance at Sunday’s Billboard Music Awards. Paisley, who it was announced today will return as co-host of the 2016 CMA Awards alongside Carrie Underwood, previously waded into cultural commentary with his much-maligned “Accidental Racist” collaboration with LL Cool J.
Next: Kimmel questions VA congress candidate about porn on his computer
Jimmy Kimmel Live airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. on ABC. The comedian will interview Donald Trump on tonight’s episode followed by Bernie Sanders on Thursday night.