UNC law professor Maxine Eichner said she was struck by the fact that the judge who was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush carefully weighed the plaintiffs’ hardships in the more than 80-page ruling.
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U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder granted a preliminary injunction barring the University of North Carolina from enforcing the so-called bathroom bill provision of HB 2, which bars transgender people from using restrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity when those facilities are in government buildings (including at the state-run university). Transgender residents challenging the law say that restroom safety is protected by existing laws, while the North Carolina measure is harmful and discriminatory.
HB2 requires people in schools, universities and other government facilities to use bathrooms matching the gender on their birth certificates.
But the judge contended that the law violates a portion of federal law that does not allow public institutions to discriminate against students based on sex.
“Today is a great day for me, and hopefully this is a start to chipping away at the injustice of H.B”.
“We are thrilled that the court put a temporary stop to some of the grave harm H.B”.
“Today, the tightness that I have felt in my chest every day… has eased. It sends a signal to the state and the rest of the country, most of whom are deeply opposed to this that we’re really not going to have this on the books that much longer”, said North Carolina Senator Jeff Jackson.
In addition to the students, several groups – including the American Civil Liberties Union and U.S. Department of Justice – are involved in the case.
That’s because the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals – the mid-level appeals court with jurisdiction over North Carolina – in a Virginia case recently counseled trial judges to follow federal regulators’ interpretation of Title IX.
A Monmouth University Poll released on Wednesday showed the law could hurt McCrory’s re-election chances in November. It also argues the law is unconstitutional because it violates the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment by discriminating on the basis of sex and sexual orientation and violates the privacy and medical decision making rights of transgender people.
Schroeder made similarly short work of UNC’s claim that there’s no reason for an injunction because its only step to enforce House Bill 2 has been to make sure men’s and women’s bathrooms are labeled.
As with related disputes bubbling in lower courts, a key issue in the case is whether this part of H.B. Two companies, Red Ventures and Braeburn Pharmaceuticals, have similarly begun re-evaluating their expansion into North Carolina.
Courts are grappling with whether the “sex” provision of Title IX and other federal civil rights laws cover transgender individuals.
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State Senate leader Phil Berger and House leader Tim Moore, found a silver lining in the judge’s ruling, reports the News and Observer. His final decision on the law won’t come until after that trial.
