You’ve probably heard quite a bit about North Carolina’s House Bill 2, which was signed into law on March 23. It bans individuals from using the restrooms that do not correspond to their biological sex, and it’s been protested by everyone from Bruce Springsteen to the NBA. The law is a blatant attack on transgender individuals, and in response, the U.S. Justice Department has notified Gov. Pat McCrory that North Carolina is in violation of civil rights law, The New York Times reports.
According to CNN, the letters allegedly say, “Access to sex-segregated restrooms and other workplace facilities consistent with gender identity is a term, condition or privilege of employment. Denying such access to transgender individuals, whose gender identity is different from their gender assigned at birth, while affording it to similarly situated non-transgender employees, violates Title VII.” Basically, when you get hired somewhere, you have to be given adequate bathroom facilities consistent with your gender. If you’re not getting that, your employer is breaking the law.
The Justice Department gave McCrory a deadline of Monday, May 9 to “remedy these violations.” CNN reported Thursday that McCrory said the state will respond by that deadline. However, North Carolina Speaker of the House Tim Moore said that they would not. “We will take no action by Monday,” Moore said, according to the Times. “That deadline will come and go.”
These recent events are a reminder that the battle for civil rights is far from over. Let’s hope North Carolina takes action and changes the law to make the state safe for people of all gender identities.