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Located by the harbor near the new Town Dock, Oriental’s public bathroom opened to great acclaim in December. However, the Town was forced to quickly shutter the facility when the NC legislature passed HB2 on March 26. NC Law HB2 mandates that “users of public restrooms use bathrooms corresponding to the gender on their birth certificate.” Without a way to check birth certificates, bathroom use had to be shut down, or the town was vulnerable to a stiff $10,000 daily Gender Non-Compliance fine.

That’s all been solved. At a Tuesday news conference Governor McCrory has announced the GCF (Gender Compliance Fund), a 6 million dollar program providing revenue for communities to hire Gender Compliance Officers.

Oriental Town Hall officials wasted no time. Oriental’s GCF funding allowed for the hiring of one Gender Compliance Officer. The town tapped Kim Daniels, whose pharmaceutical background provided the required knowledge base. Thursday at 8am the public restroom re-opened with GCO Daniels on duty.

Compliance Officer Kim Daniels awaits at the base of the restroom stairs

Word spread quickly among visiting boaters and passing pedestrians, who soon formed a line waiting to take advantage of the facilities.

Thanks to the widespread news coverage of NC Law HB2, most citizens now know they must carry a birth certificate at all times. Here Daniels authenticates the gender of a hopeful restroom user.

While long form birth certificates are preferred, Daniels has been authorized to accept card type birth certificates from out of state residents.

North Carolina resident Darrell Wiard did not have his long form birth certificate. While he was permitted to use the Men’s room, he received a stern rebuke.

Mr. D. Mauney had a non-original birth certificate, prompting Daniels to call into the Governor’s Hotline for further guidance.

Mr. D. Mauney submits to manual Gender authentication. This image has been cropped to maintain this site’s family friendly certification.

Gender Compliance Officers must have medical skills

The Governor’s office approved method of manual gender authentication. This is preferred over checking into the front of one’s pants according to Josh Ellis in the Governor’s office. Josh states “a skilled probing Gender Compliance Officer can tell if a gender has been changed. We will not be tricked.”

While manual authentication may seem harsh just to use a public restroom, Governor McCrory wants all NC citizens to know “that we’re all in this together.” McCrory states “every member of my staff, including myself, has been manually authenticated to insure the veracity of the process.”

North Carolina Governor McCrory being authenticated

Meanwhile, Oriental’s public restroom is back in operation. A Town Hall spokesperson says the bathroom may be on reduced hours – “we only have funding for one Gender Compliance Officer.” Starting next week the town will add 48 hour authorization blue armbands so bathroom users need not be re-checked during each visit.