Will the University of North Carolina’s response to HB2 be its downfall?
The University of North Carolina has told a federal court that it will disobey the anti-LGBT HB2, and that trans people can use whichever bathroom they choose.
The university told the court that it would not enforce HB2, signed by Governor Pat McCrory earlier this year, which makes it illegal for trans people to use a bathroom other than that corresponding with their birth gender.
An affidavit was written by university president Margaret Spellings, who said: “I have no intent to exercise my authority to promulgate any guidelines or regulations that require transgender students to use the restrooms consistent with their biological sex.”
Lawyers from the university went on to say that HB2 has no enforcement mechanism, and that the university would not change “any of its policies or practices regarding transgender students or employees.”
“There is nothing in the Act that prevents any transgender person from using the restroom consistent with his or her gender identity,” said the lawyers.
The US Justice Department sued the state of North Carolina last month, asking a federal court to rule that the state’s anti-trans HB2 law violates the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The Department said the state should stop enforcing HB2.
The Attorney General Loretta Lynch also threatened to withhold federal funding to the University of North Carolina system, which could be as much as $4.8 billion.
In response, Governor McCrory filed his own desperate lawsuit against the federal government.
In it, he named Ms Lynch, the head of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, Vanita Gupta and the Justice Department.
“We’re taking the Obama admin to court,” he wrote.
“They’re bypassing Congress, attempting to rewrite law & policies for the whole country, not just NC.
“Our lawsuit seeks to ensure that NC continues to receive federal funding until the courts clarify federal law & resolve this national issue.”
