RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina rolled back its “bathroom bill” Thursday in a bid to end the yearlong backlash over transgender rights that has cost the state dearly in business projects, conventions and basketball tournaments.
The compromise plan, announced Wednesday night by the Democratic governor and leaders of the Republican-controlled legislature, was worked out under mounting pressure from the NCAA, which threatened to take away more sporting events from the basketball-obsessed state as long as the law, also known as House Bill 2, remained on the books.
The new measure cleared the House and Senate and was signed by Gov. Roy Cooper in a matter of hours.
Among other things, it repeals the best-known provision of HB2: a requirement that transgender people use restrooms that correspond to the sex on their birth certificate.
“For over a year now, House Bill 2 has been a dark cloud hanging over our great state,” the governor said. “It has stained our reputation, it has discriminated against our people, and it has caused great economic harm in many of our communities.”
The American Civil Liberties Union and gay rights activists complained that the new law still denies gay and transgender people certain protections from discrimination, and they demanded nothing less than full repeal.
As a result, it was unclear whether the retreat from HB2 would stop the boycotts or satisfy the NCAA. NCAA President Mark Emmert said the association’s board would review the legislation in the coming days before deciding whether to bring neutral-site championships back.
Republican Rep. Scott Stone urged his colleagues to vote for the new bill. It passed the House 70-48.
“We are impeding the growth in our revenues, in our abilities to do more things for tourism, for teacher pay … while we have this stigma hanging over us,” Stone said. “The time has come for us to get out from under the national spotlight for negative things.”
Conservatives, meanwhile, staunchly defended HB2 and condemned the new measure.
“This bill is at best a punt. At worst it is a betrayal of principle,” Republican Sen. Dan Bishop, a primary sponsor of HB2, said on the Senate floor as the rollback was approved 32-16, with nine of 15 Democrats among the yes votes.
While the new measure eliminates the rule on transgender bathroom use, it also makes clear that state legislators — not local government or school officials — are in charge of policy on public restrooms.
HB2 had invalidated any local ordinances that protect gay or transgender people from discrimination in the workplace or in public accommodations. Under the new law, local governments can’t enact any new such protections until December 2020.
That moratorium, according to GOP leaders, will allow time for pending litigation over transgender rights to play out.
