Incoming governor says North Carolina will repeal LGBT law

North Carolina Gov.-elect Roy Cooper says the state's legislative leaders will call a special session as soon as Tuesday to repeal the state's so-called "bathroom bill," more officially known as House Bill 2.

The law requires people to use restrooms in many public buildings — including schools and college campuses — according to the sex listed on their birth certificates.


“Full repeal will help to bring jobs, sports and entertainment events back and will provide the opportunity for strong LGBT protections in our state," Cooper said in a statement.

The announcement came after a 10-0 vote Monday morning by the Charlotte City Council to rescind the LGBT nondiscrimination law it enacted early this year — a law that prompted state lawmakers to push back with the bathroom bill. The council's decision is contingent on the state's legislators repealing their law by Dec. 31, according to The Associated Press.

The contentious state law prompted the Justice Department and outgoing Republican Gov. Pat McCrory to exchange lawsuits earlier this year, with federal officials threatening to withhold billions in federal education aid from the state. The Justice Department could not immediately be reached for comment.

The law also prompted a lawsuit out of the University of North Carolina, filed by two transgender students and one employee. A federal judge in August issued a limited order saying the plaintiffs could use the bathrooms, with another hearing in that case scheduled for next spring.

McCrory's office released a statement Monday that blamed the controversy on Charlotte's "overreaching" nondiscrimination law, and Democrats' previous refusal to repeal it.

"This sudden reversal with little notice after the gubernatorial election sadly proves this entire issue originated by the political left was all about politics and winning the governor’s race at the expense of Charlotte and our entire state," said McCrory's press secretary, Graham Wilson.

North Carolina has been a hot spot in the debate over transgender rights, but it is far from the only battleground.

The Obama administration has said that Title IX, which prevents sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities, protects the right of transgender students to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity. That decree, issued in May, has prompted about half of states to sue the administration.

LGBT advocates worry the Trump administration will rescind that directive, which could cause upheaval with one of the nation's most high-profile court cases.

The Supreme Court in October agreed to take up the issue of transgender student rights in the case of a Virginia transgender student who's suing his school district for access to the boy's bathroom at his high school. If the Trump administration scraps the Obama administration's transgender directive, then the case could be kicked down to a lower court.