Reversal unlikely as deadline approaches on North Carolina law

RALEIGH, N.C. – North Carolina government and university officials were given until Monday to tell federal attorneys whether they would stop enforcing a new law blocking LGBT protections, particularly provisions requiring transgender people to use public restrooms that correspond to their biological sex.

Republican Gov. Pat McCrory said Sunday he will decide how to respond to the U.S. Justice Department by the deadline but sounded little interested in capitulating. Government attorneys contend the law approved by the state Legislature in March violates the federal Civil Rights Act.

The Justice Department is “trying to define gender identity, and there is no clear identification or definition of gender identity,” McCrory said on “Fox News Sunday.”

McCrory said he was not aware of any North Carolina cases of transgender people using their gender identity to access a restroom and molest someone, a fear frequently cited by the law’s supporters as the main reason for its passage.

The governor said there was no comparison between civil rights laws that forbid racial discrimination and the Justice Department’s claim that the federal law also protects transgender people.

“We can definitely define the race of people. It’s very hard to define transgender or gender identity,” McCrory said, adding his request for more time to respond to the DOJ was denied.

McCrory has called the law a common-sense measure designed to protect the privacy of people who use restrooms and locker rooms and expect all people inside the facilities to be of the same gender.

The DOJ last week demanded McCrory, University of North Carolina leaders and the state’s public safety agency respond by Monday whether they intended to stop enforcing the law. Repealing the law also would satisfy the attorneys, but GOP lawmakers who run the General Assembly had no plans before to do so by the deadline. The legislature scheduled no recorded votes or substantive action during Monday’s House and Senate sessions.

The 17-campus UNC system risks losing more than $1.4 billion in federal funds if they don’t comply. Another $800 million in federally backed loans for students who attend the public universities also would be at risk if it’s found that enforcing the law violates Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, which bars discrimination based on sex. The letter to McCrory said the law also violates Title VII, which bars employment discrimination.