U.S. Justice Department officials notified North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory on Wednesday that House Bill 2 violates the U.S. Civil Rights Act.
House Bill 2, titled the “Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act” was signed by Governor McCrory on March 23. The bill prevents local governments from setting their own anti-discrimination rules and requires transgender individuals to use public bathrooms that match their birth gender, not the gender they identify with. A Charlotte City Council ordinance was supposed to take effect April 1 that expanded protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity for treatment at hotels and restaurants.
In the letter, officials say HB2 violates Title VII, which prohibits an employer from discriminating against an individual on the basis of sex, and Title IX, which bars discrimination in education based on sex, of the Civil Rights Act.
It states, "Access to sex-segregated restrooms and other workplace facilities consistent with gender identity is a term, condition or privilege of employment. Denying such access to transgender individuals, whose gender identity is different from their gender assigned at birth, while affording it to similarly situated non-transgender employees, violates Title VII."
The letter asks for Governor McCrory to respond by May 9th on whether he will "remedy the violations of Title VII."
Governor McCrory issued a statement. However, he has not officially announced what the state is going to do.
"A claim by the Obama administration charges that one part of House Bill 2, which requires state employees in public government buildings and students in our universities to use a restroom, locker room and shower facility that match their biological sex, is now in violation of federal law. The Obama administration has not only staked out its position for North Carolina, but for all states, universities and most employers in the U.S.
"The right and expectation of privacy in one of the most private areas of our personal lives is now in jeopardy. We will be reviewing to determine the next steps."
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