ACLU and Other Groups to Sue Over NC "Bathroom Bill"
RALEIGH, N.C. (WVEC) -- The American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups plan to file a federal lawsuit challenging House Bill 2 which Governor Pat McCrory recently signed into law.
The ACLU referred to the law as "a sweeping anti-LGBT measure that authorizes discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people across the state."
Attorneys with the ACLU as well as Payton McGarry, a transgender student and plaintiff, planned to discuss the suit Monday.
The law, which some have dubbed "The Bathroom Bill," came in response to a local ordinance in Charlotte which allowed transgender individuals to use restrooms for the sex with which they identify rather than their biological sex.
McCrory, who was the mayor of Charlotte for 14 years and had criticized the local measure, signed the legislation that he said was "passed by a bipartisan majority to stop this breach of basic privacy and etiquette."
Beyond the issue of bathroom use, opponents argued that the law prevents local governments in North Carolina from creating any nondiscrimination policies protecting members of the LGBT community.
"Really what this bill does is that it makes the city's ability to pass local ordinances related to any type of transgender issues null and void," explained 13News Now Legal Analyst Kevin Duffan.
The ACLU said the measure also jeopardizes the more $4.5 billion in federal funding that the state receives for secondary and post-secondary schools under Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions receiving Federal funding, including discrimination against transgender individuals.
The North Carolina League of Municipalities, Attorney General Roy Cooper, and major companies including PayPal, Red Hat, American Airlines, Dow Chemical, and Biogen announced their opposition to the law.
The ACLU pointed out that a Public Policy Polling survey released on March 22 showed widespread, bipartisan agreement among state voters that the legislature should leave Charlotte’s ordinance alone.
There's a possibility that a federal in Virginia could have an impact on the situation in North Carolina.
Gavin Grimm, a transgender teenager in Gloucester County, sued the Gloucester County School Board after it approved a measure that would require him to use a private restroom.
Grimm, who was born a girl but identifies and lives as a boy, had been using the boys' bathrooms at Gloucester County High School before the measure's approval.
A United States District Court judge ruled in favor of the school board. Grimm has an appeal before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.
If the court rules in the teenager's favor, Grimm's attorney says it will affect things in the Tarheel State which also falls under the 4th Circuit Court's jurisdiction.
"If the court of appeals sides with Grimm, it's almost certainly going to mean the law in North Carolina is ruled unconstitutional and struck down," Duffan said, cautioning that the court typically rules on the conservative side which means it could shoot down the appeal.
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We had a post about Virginia's bathroom bill lawsuit here, if you missed it. I'm curious as to how VA's will impact NC's. Come on home state, don't fuck this up for both states.