According to a CNN report, the Justice Department has weighed in on North Carolina’s controversial anti-transgender “bathroom bill,” officially known as HB2, and the news isn’t good for the state. The legislation, which was signed into law at the end of March, forced transgender citizens to use the public bathroom that matched the gender shown on their birth certificate, regardless of their physical appearance or which gender they identified with. Further, the North Carolina “bathroom bill” prevented local municipalities from passing legislation to protect the LGBT community from discrimination within their local jurisdiction, stating that state law “trumped” local efforts to protect LGBT individuals.
HB2 also took away the right of LGBT individuals to sue at the state level for wrongful termination based on gender identity discrimination and made other substantive changes to North Carolina’s existing anti-discrimination laws.
North Carolina suffered a substantial boycott after HB2 was signed into law. Most notably, PayPal abandoned plans to set up shop in the state, several other major corporations also refused to do business with/in North Carolina, performance artists such as Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam (among others) cancelled shows in the state, and some U.S. cities also announced plans to cut economic ties with North Carolina due to the discriminatory new law.
@megansuzette @AP yep pic.twitter.com/j45C84tLMJ
— EEAN (@timogeo) May 4, 2016
In the midst of the North Carolina boycott and fallout, Britain even issued a travel advisory to its LGBT citizens planning to visit North Carolina and/or Mississippi, reports the Huffington Post .
“The U.S. is an extremely diverse society and attitudes towards LGBT people differ hugely across the country. LGBT travelers may be affected by legislation passed recently in the states of North Carolina and Mississippi. Before traveling please read our general travel advice for the LGBT community.”
Britain’s North Carolina travel advisory even went so far as to warn its LGBT citizens to avoid “excessive physical shows of affection” and to “exercise discretion” in rural areas.
Apparently, the U.S. Justice Department has taken issue with the North Carolina anti-LGBT law as well. Reportedly, the department sent a letter to Governor Pat McCrory of North Carolina to notify him that the controversial HB2 violates federal law, specifically, the U.S. Civil Rights Act. Social media went wild when the news broke.
@AP the doj isn’t a court. Tell the liberal morons to shove it
— Steven (@MaVASteve) May 4, 2016
https://twitter.com/Oficialjuanpltz/status/727955936334249985
@AP @splashroy Well duh no kidding.NC should be ashamed of their gov.
— bluejoni (@bluejoni) May 4, 2016
@AP Law idea: legislators who vote for laws that are openly flouting federal laws should pay for the lawsuit fees out of their own pockets.
— Premium Steve (@Premium_Steve) May 4, 2016
As the Wall Street Journal reports, the Justice Department’s letter to North Carolina officials showed up at the governor’s office on Wednesday, and it could very well initiate a lengthy showdown between conservative North Carolina and Obama’s liberal administration in D.C.
The Justice Department letter addressing North Carolina’s “bathroom bill” came from Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, and it stated unequivocally that HB2 “violates Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, barring discrimination against employees.”
The news of the letter was first reported by the Charlotte Observer , and according to that report, the Justice Department stated that the North Carolina legislation is “facially discriminatory against transgender employees on the basis of sex,” because it treats transgender employees differently than non-transgender employees.
According to reports, North Carolina’s governor has until Monday, May 9, to reply. In his reply, he must let the Justice Department know if North Carolina “will remedy these violations.” In order to remedy the violations, the controversial new North Carolina law must not be implemented. The Justice Department reported that it is also going to be communicating by mail with the University of North Carolina system and North Carolina’s Department of Public Safety to apprise them of the developments.
The embattled North Carolina law was fast-tracked by Governor McCrory and Republican legislators in the state during a one-day emergency session in March. The reason for the fast-tracking? North Carolina’s Republican leaders were desperate to head off a new Charlotte ordinance that would have given citizens the right to use whatever bathroom best suited their gender identity.
If North Carolina refuses to stop implementing the discriminatory law, the state will most likely be facing a Justice Department federal lawsuit.
Previously, in response to widespread boycotts of the state, Governor McCrory had said that he’d be willing to “roll back some provisions of the law.” However, North Carolina’s leader called it “common sense” to force transgender people to use the public bathroom that matches the gender on their birth certificate and refused to back down on that portion of the anti-LGBT “bathroom bill.”
Now it looks like he won’t have a choice. If North Carolina’s leadership refuses to follow the edict handed down today by the Justice Department, the state could be looking at costly and drawn-out litigation.
[Image Courtesy Of AP Photo/Ted S. Warren]