After all of the hooting and hollering in North Carolina over the Charlotte “transgender bathroom issue” and the state response with HB2, was it all for nothing? Was this just a stunt by the Democrats which they were willing to abandon as soon as the election was over and their candidate had won the governorship? They’re saying it’s not, but the evidence seems to be pointing in the other direction. While everyone else was focused on the Electoral College, Charlotte turned around and repealed the ordinance with the state legislature saying that they would, in turn, repeal HB2. Let’s all smash our heads into our desks in unison, shall we? (Charlotte Observer)

Following a surprise move by the Charlotte City Council, Gov. Pat McCrory said Monday he would call a special session to consider repeal of House Bill 2… Earlier, Gov.-elect Roy Cooper said legislative leaders have promised to call a special session Tuesday. “Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore assured me that as a result of Charlotte’s vote, a special session will be called for Tuesday to repeal HB 2 in full,” Cooper said in a statement. “I hope they will keep their word to me and with the help of Democrats in the legislature, HB2 will be repealed in full. Cooper’s statement followed the Charlotte City Council’s 10-0 vote Monday morning to rescind the LGBT ordinance that prompted HB 2.

There have been so many iterations of the court challenges surrounding this brouhaha that it’s easy to lose track. There was an injunction granted earlier this year, but another judge stepped in to reverse part of that decision. A court date was set for next year, but everyone was waiting to see what would happen with a separate case in Virginia which is supposed to be heard before the Supreme Court.

So with all of this hot courtroom action going on, how did everyone in the state suddenly decide to go all Emily Litella on us and just say, never mind? If the Democrats in Charlotte were so bound and determined that this was the hill they were going to die on and that there would be no transgender left behind, how did they unanimously vote to repeal the original ordinance?

From the GOP side I suppose the HB2 decision is a bit more understandable on two fronts. First of all, there’s no real reason to have that on the books with the Charlotte ordinance gone because it actually only existed in response to Charlotte’s actions in the first place. Plus, they’ve been under enormous economic pressure from the national progressive community who have been forcing all manner of boycotts and other expensive measures in an attempt to force the state to bend to their will. (Brilliant moves which wind up hurting everyone in the state, including the people they are supposedly looking to “protect.”)

Well, I suppose it’s up to the state’s residents in the end. But this can not and should not be the end of the debate. There are a number of other cases making their way through the court system and the Supremes are on track to weigh in on it in 2017. (Hopefully with a fresh, new Donald Trump appointee on the court.) Even if there is no longer an Obama run Department of Education pushing this issue in the schools and federal buildings, a resolution is required for the rest of the country. Either the government is going to be allowed to declare that your biological gender as determined by your chromosomal structure is irrelevant, anyone can be whichever sex they feel like and traditional standards of privacy are out the window or some semblance of sanity will be restored. This debate should not go by the wayside simply because an election season ended.