“Bathroom bill” replacement passes both legislative houses.
Jonathan Drake/Reuters
North Carolina’s legislature on Thursday moved to repeal the state’s unpopular “bathroom bill,” or HB2, which requires individuals to use the public bathroom matching the gender on their birth certificate, regardless of their actual gender identity. The state’s house and senate voted in favor of HB 142, the new measure, and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to sign it. The legislation was crafted as a result of negotiations between Cooper and top Republican lawmakers. In the aftermath of the initial bill’s passage and signing by ex-GOP Gov. Pat McCrory, prominent corporations threatened to leave the state, including the NCAA. LGBT rights groups said the initial bill discriminated against transgenger individuals, and some have raised concerns with the compromise legislation, saying it would still allow for discrimination because it leaves bathroom regulation to the legislature. Groups such as the Human Rights Campaign and the American Civil Liberties Union are calling for a full repeal with no strings attached.
