WASHINGTON Leaders in the North Carolina General Assembly unveiled a sweeping bill today in response to the recent Charlotte ordinance which extends nondiscrimination protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ( LGBT ) residents. The monstrous bill voids the Charlotte ordinance in its entirety and cobbles together some of the most extreme anti-LGBT measures that have, for the most part, failed in other state legislatures this year. The legislation could cause the state to lose out on $4.5 billion in federal funds because of conflicts with Title IX regulations.
The legislation specifically targets transgender North Carolinians by barring them from using the bathroom in public schools and government buildings that matches the gender they live as every day. Instead, transgender residents and visitors are required to use the bathroom that matches the sex on their birth certificate. This is a particularly pernicious bar to set in North Carolina, one of the states where it is more difficult for transgender residents to change their birth certificates. This also conflicts with Title IX of the Education Act of 1972, and could cost North Carolina at least $4.5 billion in federal funds. Similar concerns played a significant role in stopping other bathroom-related bills in South Dakota and Tennessee.
But the proposed bill does not stop there. The legislation also would void any local employment or public accommodation nondiscrimination ordinance that extend protections to classes not currently protected under state law. There are no state-level nondiscrimination protections for LGBT people in North Carolina, so the bill eradicates the Charlotte ordinance and seeks to stop the passage of similar measures in other municipalities.
"North Carolina's top elected officials, including House Speaker Tim Moore and Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest, are insisting on a costly special session to override a municipal ordinance that a majority of the state's voters don't want the General Assembly to interfere with," said Matt McTighe, Freedom for All Americans executive director. "Rather than focus on issues that unite North Carolinians and strengthen the state's future prospects, the legislature is allowing election year politics to drive a divisive agenda one that has particularly harmful implications for transgender residents and visitors. Lawmakers may be intent on rushing this discriminatory legislation through, but we are committed to holding them accountable and advocating for the more than quarter-million LGBT people who call North Carolina home."
Lawmakers are convening for the special session which will cost taxpayers upwards of $42,000 a day as their approval rating among voters in North Carolina craters. A new poll out this week found that only 18 percent of voters in North Carolina approve of the job the legislature is doing. The same survey revealed that only 25 percent of North Carolinians want the legislature to meddle with the Charlotte ordinance, while 51 percent want them to leave it alone. In fact, 64 percent of voters support comprehensive nondiscrimination protections in North Carolina arguably the exact opposite of what lawmakers are seeking to push through during the special session.
"It's bewildering but telling that Speaker Moore and Lt. Governor Forest are presenting this type of legislation, even in the face of clear opposition from the voters," added McTighe. "But it's shameful that those who will feel the brunt of this discriminatory measure are those already the most vulnerable across North Carolina specifically, transgender youth who face harassment and isolation in school; and LGBT people who simply want the freedom to get a good job and provide for themselves and their loved ones."
Freedom for All Americans is the bipartisan campaign to secure full nondiscrimination protections for LGBT people nationwide. Our work brings together Republicans and Democrats, businesses large and small, people of faith, and allies from all walks of life to make the case for comprehensive nondiscrimination protections that ensure everyone is treated fairly and equally.