Lara Americo, an trans activist and artist based in North Carolina, warns people not to be assuaged by the recent sham repeal of HB2. “A majority of people who don't really follow the issues that closely, they think there's been a repeal,” Lara told Mother Jones. “But I don't think it was a repeal—I think transgender people are in even more danger now. When you don't allow cities to give people protections, you put people in danger”:

Our state government made it clear that they put profit and sports ahead of our safety, and that mentality trickles down. We still don't have the protections we need—all we have is a spotlight on us, so that people who don't like us can target us. I feel less safe now than I did a few weeks ago, and so do a lot of people. I work with the Trans Lifeline, a suicide hotline, and after the new replacement law passed, there was a spike in callers. I don't like to show that these laws have affected me, but they do: I don't want to stop at a gas station when I'm running out of gas. I don't want to join the YMCA or the swim team because I worry about someone seeing my body. My partner worries—when I leave the house, I can usually count on her texting me within an hour, and if I don't respond she gets really upset. I've had instances where I'm in a bar and I try to use the bathroom, and someone will look at me funny, and I'll have to leave the bar to avoid a confrontation. Recently they proposed a bill that would increase trespassing punishments for people in the bathroom, and that bill could be used to target transgender people. I try to be optimistic, but our state has a Republican super-majority with extreme beliefs, so I do worry it's going to pass and that transgender people will be criminalized.

The rest of Lara’s conversation with Mother Jones is a must-read here. She was among those who testified against HB2 when it was being considered in the Senate, and says that since then she often hears “about a person who is making plans to leave the state, and I've considered it myself, but I have to wrestle with the thought of being forced out of my home, because I love North Carolina and I don't want to leave.” Lara says she’s staying, and she’s staying to fight.

As the Charlotte Observer Editorial Board rightly noted, the sham repeal was “a betrayal of the promises the governor made to the LGBT community,” like Lara. “This was the first real test of leadership for Gov. Cooper, a Democrat, and he failed spectacularly.”