North Carolina’s “bathroom bill” repeal: who’s satisfied?
RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina has rolled back a state law that blocked some anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people, but questions persist whether politicians have done enough to coax back the businesses and sports leagues who withdrew lucrative plans from the state.
Initial reactions were largely muted on Thursday’s compromise repeal that seems to have pleased no one, and which advocates say still leaves gays, lesbians and transgender people vulnerable to discrimination.
The law passed by the Republican-led legislature and signed quickly by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper repeals the best-known section of House Bill 2: a requirement that transgender people use the public restrooms that correspond to the sex on their birth certificate.
HB2 supporters argued that the law was needed to preserve people’s privacy and protect them from sexual predators. Opponents said that was nonsense and that the danger was imaginary.