It's getting harder and harder to be a professional bigot in America. As people of marginalized identities continue to connect (not only with one another, but with allies as well) the haters and naysayers are facing more organized opposition to their queer antagonism than ever. It's especially funny and entertaining when these people are punished for their actions in the place that often hurts the most: their wallets.

What we're talking about, specifically, is North Carolina, the state where House Bill 2—the antagonistic, anti-trans legislation that rules that people must use the bathroom of the gender assigned to them on their birth certificate—was passed. The bill has gone on to be boycotted and protested across the country, with seemingly little effect on the bill itself. However, people coming together against this absolutely disgusting bill has done wonders.

The truth is, this one bill has cost North Carolina millions of dollars (and I mean a lot of millions, not just one or two). But how, you ask? Well, what happened was that the national opposition to the bill has since encouraged businesses of all kinds to steer clear of NC, and to go elsewhere. As a result, business and tourism are both way down in the state.

In a piece by WIRED, the specifics of the deficit are explored, though of course the numbers are not concrete. Essentially, the biggest pieces of this new deficit come from legal fees for Governor Pat McRory, PayPal not continuing with their planned expansion in NC, other big tech businesses like Apple, DropBox, Yelp, and Slack agreeing to stay away, huge sports organizations like the NBA, NCAA, and ACC pulling important games from NC, and a severe decline in tourism (because who wants to go to a gross place where legislators are obsessed with where you go to the bathroom?). What's important (and awful) to note is that the first item on this list—the legal fees for Governor Pat McRory—will be taken from the state's taxpayers.

The estimate of how much HB2 has cost NC is an astonishing $395 million. This is another important thing to note, especially for all the people who like to say that talking and writing about stuff on the Internet doesn't help the world.

It's highly encouraging to see such united resistance, and we can only hope that it forces the repeal of HB2. Let's also hope that it continues to be just as expensive to be a bigoted legislator across in this country. The best point of all this, though, is perhaps best said by this short note from WIRED: "If the NCAA is looking at you sideways, you know you’re doing something shady."