North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory has dropped a lawsuit that asked federal courts to keep the state’s House Bill 2 law, or “bathroom bill,” which limited civil rights protections for LGBT people along with regulating who uses public bathrooms.
“Substantial costs to the state” was one of the reasons cited for dropping the suit, adding that it did not serve in the “interests of judicial economy and efficiency.”
After HB2 was signed into law in March, performing artists and event organizers launched a boycott campaign in response to what many saw as the state’s legislation of anti-gay/trans bigotry. One notable defection was the NBA’s cancellation of the All-Star Game that was to be hosted in Charlotte.
Here's a rundown of who has boycotted North Carolina's "bathroom bill," and when https://t.co/nrxebuLTOm
— Max Kutner (@maxkutner) September 14, 2016
“We do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by the current law,” the organization said in a statement.
So far in September, the NCAA and Atlantic Coast Conference have moved championship events out of the state, according to NPR.
McCrory sued the federal government in May, after U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said HB2 violated both the Civil Rights Act and Title IX and threatened to withhold federal funding to the state. The Department of Justice countersued, seeking to ban enforcement on the grounds that the law is, as Lynch said at the time, “impermissibly discriminatory.”
Support that once existed for bill seems to be on the wane. Declining business and condemnation from media pundits and other state governments have legislators who once pushed for the law reversing course.
“There’s several factors that have changed my mind,” North Carolina state Senator Tamara Barringer (R) told NPR last week. “It is having a tremendous adverse economic impact on the families of North Carolina. These are jobs. These are the way we support our families, the way we fund education.”
“It is also creating the wrong impression of North Carolinians in the world or across the nation,” she added. “Last week, I had the privilege of representing North Carolina on an education mission to Arizona State University.”
HB2 was designed to counter a Charlotte non-discrimination ordinance, part of which allowed transgender people to use bathrooms and locker rooms of the gender they identify with.
In regards to government buildings, schools, and universities, HB2 required people to use the restroom according to the sex listed on their birth certificate. The law also excluded lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from civil rights and blocked municipalities from adopting their own anti-discrimination rules.
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