Special to WorldTribune.com
Gov. Pat McCrory answered a May 9 deadline from the federal government by announcing that North Carolina will sue the Justice Department over its challenge to the state’s law mandating people use the public restroom of their birth gender, not gender identity.
Last week, Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, said the “HB2” law violates the Civil Rights Act and gave a May 9 deadline for McCrory to “remedy the situation.”
The law also prevents local governments from expanding anti-discrimination protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
McCrory, a Republican, accused the federal government of “baseless and blatant overreach” and said Congress should step in to clarify the law further before it’s used as a tool to fight his state.
“Our nation is dealing with a very new, complex and emotional issue,” McCrory said at a press conference in Raleigh. “I think it’s time for the U.S. Congress to bring clarity to the national anti-discrimination policies under title VII and title IX.”
“This is not just a North Carolina issue, this is now a national issue,” McCrory said, echoeing sentiments from the lawsuit in which he called transgender bathroom use “a national issue that applies to every state and it needs to be resolved at the federal level.”
North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper has declined defend the “bathroom law” in court. Cooper, a Democrat, is challenging McCrory’s re-election bid in November.
North Carolina governor sues Justice Department over HB2 added by Editor One on
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