Summary: The lawsuit against the Justice Department has been brought by the state of North Carolina in defense of their HB2 or bathroom bill.
North Carolina is not backing down. After the U.S. Justice Department stepped in telling the state that their House Bill 2 law violates the Civil Rights Act, they are firing back with a lawsuit. The House Bill 2 law prohibits people from using public bathrooms that do not match their biological sex.
Read ACLU Sues North Carolina Over Transgender Bathroom Law to learn more.
The letter from the Justice Department warned Gov. Pat McCrory to “remedy the situation” by Monday or face consequences. McCrory saw the letter and position of the Justice Department as a “radical reinterpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act” and “a baseless and blatant overreach.”
McCrory continued by saying, “This is no longer just a North Carolina issue. This is a basic change of norms that we’ve used for decades throughout the United States of America and the Obama administration is now trying to change that norm – again not just in North Carolina, but they’re ordering this to every company in the United States of America – starting tomorrow I assume, or Tuesday.”
See GWU Law’s All-Gender Bathroom Intended for Single Use article.
The consequences of not complying with the Justice Departments demands involve losing federal funding, especially to schools. The University of North Carolina Board of Governors was sent the same letter by the Justice Department. McCrory is upset that the federal government is trying to tell “every university that accepts federal funding that boys who make think they’re a girl can go into a girl’s locker room or restroom or shower facility.”
Read Illinois Sets the Standard for Transgender Student Rights.
McCrory has called the government a “bully” for setting an unrealistic timeline to respond to the letter and overstepping their authority. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act refers to the term “sex” for gender issues but “Congress does not define sex” as a something that is chosen. He says the Justice Department is making laws instead of enforcing them.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/09/politics/north-carolina-hb2-justice-department-deadline/
Photo: twitter.com