House Bill 2: from a local to a federal issue

With North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory suing the federal Department of Justice on Monday and the DoJ responding with a countersuit just hours later, it is important to remember how exactly we got here. Here is a timeline of the events which led up to and resulted from the passage of House Bill 2.

February 22: The Charlotte City Council votes 7-4 to add members of the LGBT community to the list of groups specifically protected against discrimination in Charlotte, including a provision allowing for equal access to public restrooms regardless of perceived conformity to stereotypical notions of masculinity or femininity.

February 23: Tim Moore, N.C. House Speaker and former speaker of the UNC Student Congress, joined Governor McCrory and other conservative lawmakers in promising legislative action to reverse the Charlotte City Council decision, focusing specifically on “the bathroom piece” of Charlotte’s ordinance, which he called a “radical course.”

March 23: The N.C. Legislature passes House Bill 2 in a special session, which not only restricts trans-men to use of women’s restrooms and vice-versa, but enacts various changes to legal protections against discrimination, such as allowing private businesses to discriminate against gay and transgender people. This prohibits local governments from setting employment standards, such as minimum wage, for businesses they hire as contractors, and nullifies non-discrimination ordinances, past and future, passed by local governments.

March 28: The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina files suit against the state government, alleging the passage of H.B. 2 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

March 28: Andrew Cuomo of New York became the first governor to ban nonessential travel to the Tar Heel state. Cuomo was later joined by the governors of Washington and Vermont.

March 29: Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Roy Cooper calls H.B. 2 “a national embarrassment,” and refuses to defend the state against the ACLU lawsuit, citing direct conflicts between the bill and his own department’s nondiscrimination policies.

April 12: Gov. McCrory signs an executive order adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the protected classes of state employees but largely leaves H.B. 2 intact.

May 4: The Federal Department of Justice sends a letter to Governor McCrory, stating HB2 is in direct violation of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964.

May 9: McCrory and Secretary of Public Safety Frank Perry file a lawsuit against the DoJ, seeking a federal ruling that H.B. 2 is not discriminatory. In the initial filing, McCrory and Perry argue “the department’s position is a baseless and blatant overreach. This is an attempt to unilaterally rewrite long-established federal civil rights laws.”

May 9: Hours after the initial suit filed by McCrory and Perry, the DoJ filed a countersuit against the two top North Carolina officials, as well as the University of North Carolina, the UNC Board of Governors and the N.C. Department of Public Safety. The suit alleges their defense of the bill is in violation of Titles VII and IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as the Violence Against Women Act.

@colestanley2034

statenational@dailytarheel.com