Civil rights and pro-LGBT groups are now weighing options to challenge a North Carolina bill signed into law Wednesday that prevents local governments from passing anti-discrimination measures, and in some cases has reversed protections given to transgender and gay people. House Bill 2 also mandates that state law supersedes all local ordinances concerning wages, employment, and public accommodations as well as restricting single-sex restrooms and locker rooms in public facilities to people of the same sex as stated on their birth certificate. It directs all public schools, government agencies and public college campuses to require bathrooms or locker rooms be designated for use only by people based on their biological sex.
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The stated reason for the legislation was a controversial anti-discrimination ordinance passed by the Charlotte City Council.
Despite every single Democrat walking off of the Senate floor, McCrory said in his statement that the legislation passed with a “bipartisan majority”, perhaps referring to the dozen Democrats who supported the bill in the House.
The debate took a tense three hours, and the Senate’s Democratic contingency walked out in protest, although all Republicans and 12 House Democrats voted for the measure.
This was never about who gets to use which public bathroom in Charlotte. Dan Blue a Democrat said they would not take part, saying it reverses 40 plus years of progress ending discrimination in North Carolina.
McCrory and other Republican legislators argued that the policy generates “major public safety issues”, and allows male predators to enter women’s bathrooms without recourse. Although other items included in this bill should have waited until regular session, this bill does not change existing rights under state or federal law.
During debates on Wednesday, several people mentioned that the non-discrimination language doesn’t include sexual orientation or disability, which they say presents a big problem.
After signing the bill, McCrory, a Republican, tweeted, “Ordinance defied common sense, allowing men to use women’s bathroom/locker room for instance”.
The Charlotte ordinance provoked immediate outrage in the Republican-controlled legislature, where lawmakers said urgent action was necessary to protect the privacy of children and women and rein in local governments.
“As Governor, I need to protect the expectation of privacy that all individuals should be allowed to have, especially in the sanctity of a restroom”, said McCrory. North Carolina, though a Southern state, does contain liberal cities such as Durham and Chapel Hill.
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David A. Graham at The Atlantic observes that the bill highlights political tensions within North Carolina. They say the state could also risk billions in federal education dollars with the school policy. Several of these efforts have already failed; South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) recently vetoed a bill that would have required students to use the bathroom that corresponded with their biological sex at birth. “It is on the wrong side of history”, Roberts said in a prepared statement.
