The North Carolina Law HB2 continues to be extremely controversial as the U.S. Department of Justice has just sent an open letter to Gov. Pat McCrory stating that the law, nicknamed "The Bathroom" law, goes against civil rights.

Discrimination

In the open letter, the U.S Department of Justice noted that the law was discriminating against all transgender individuals as it did not permit them to use the proper bathroom. It also treats transgender people differently from cisgender people. The only way an employer is really allowed to discriminate, according to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, is "in a very narrowly defined situations and it is solely on the the basis of a protected trait where the trait is a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) reasonably necessary to the normal operation of that particular business or enterprise."

According to the law, there are are three elements that must be proven and even then it is extremely difficult to use discriminatory behavior in the work place.

Equality

The LGBT community is already facing issues of equality in the country. Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi and South Dakota have all tried to adopt religious freedom laws that would essentially be anti-gay laws.

With HB2, the law is quickly limited the equality of transgender people. In the letter, the Department of Justice noted, "By requiring compliance with H.B. 2, you and the State are therefore resisting the full enjoyment of Title VII rights and discriminating against transgender employees of public agencies by requiring those public agencies to comply with H.B. 2."

In title VII of the Civil Rights Act, it is required that every employer is treated with equal rights and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as well as certain state fair employment practices agencies protect the right of Title VII.

Segregation

During the 1960s, this was one of the most highly contested issues. Blacks were only allowed to use specific bathrooms and were not allowed to use white bathrooms. The issue comes up again if transgender women have to use the male bathroom. They are segregating transgender woman from being able to live out their life as a woman and vice versa for transgender men. This goes against Title IV, which prevents segregation of federal agencies and schools.

Privacy

In many ways McCrory noted that the law was issued to protect privacy of individuals. In a recent interview he stated, "It was a respect for privacy that individuals have especially our youth." However, this law does not protect transgender people's privacy as they have to be subjected to using bathrooms they do not identify with.

The HB2 law is definitely one that will continue to be subject to scrutiny. After the enactment of the law, musicians such as Bruce Springsteen and Demi Lovato have threatened boycotts and various businesses such PayPal have canceled job-expansion plans while numerous conference have been canceled. North Carolina may also lose the all-star game as the NBA is planning to move from Charlotte.

With no end in site for this discussion it seems the LGBT community still has a huge road to fight.