North Carolina has long had laws that regulate workplace discrimination and the use of public accommodations, as well as other business issues. A new law which is known as HB2 has reversed a Charlotte ordinance that had extended some rights to people who are gay or transgender. This law that was signed by Pat McCrory and the General Assembly went as far as to nullify local ordinances around the state that would have expanded protections for the LGBT community.

     North Carolina’s new law sets a statewide definition of classes of people who are protected against discrimination which includes biological sex as designated on a person’s birth certificate. Transgender people who have not taken surgical and legal steps to change the gender noted on their birth certificates have no legal right under NC state law to use restrooms of the gender with which they identify. Actually this bill awards the LGBT no rights at all against discrimination.

     The new HB2 law also limits how people can pursue claims of discrimination based on race religion, color, national origin, biological sex or handicap in state courts as well as prohibiting cities and counties from setting a minimum wage standard for private employers.

     North Carolina’s HB2 law was described by the national headquarters of the ACLU as “the most extreme anti-LGBT measure in the country.” There are also other states such as Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia that have recently proposed similar measures. HB2 must be repealed! 

Citations

Gordon, M., Price, M. S., & Peralta, K. (2016, March 26). Understanding HB2: North Carolina's newest law solidifies state's role in defining discrimination. The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved April 11, 2016, from http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article68401147.html