'I'm embarrassed as an American': Tampa mayor welcomes companies boycotting NC's bathroom law

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn is encouraging companies boycotting North Carolina over an anti-transgender law to move to his city.

After North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed the law preventing local municipalities from giving bathroom rights to transgender people, companies like PayPal and Lionsgate announced plans to move their business out of the state.

On Tuesday, Mayor Buckhorn issued an invitation for those companies to relocate to Tampa.

"Tampa is, and always will be, proud of our diverse community," Buckhorn wrote on Twitter. "We invite PayPal to open their global ops here."

"I think it's embarrassing," the mayor told WTVT. "It's a relic of the South in the 1950s. You know, the only difference is they're discriminating against gay people as opposed to African-Americans."

"To me, it has no place in today's society," he added. "As mayor, I want to make sure everyone in this community is treated fairly regardless of their station in life, regardless of the language they speak, regardless of how they got here. That's my job, that's my city."

"I am embarrassed as an American for what they did in both Mississippi and North Carolina."

Watch the video below from WTVT, broadcast April 6, 2016.