Trial over North Carolina LGBT bill delayed until summer

RALEIGH, N.C. – A federal trial on the legality of a North Carolina law limiting which restrooms transgender people can use in schools and government buildings has been pushed back until at least late next summer.

A U.S. magistrate judge granted the 90-day delay Monday following a conference call with attorneys for people challenging the law and for North Carolina officials defending what’s known as House Bill 2.

The trial originally was supposed to begin this month, but Magistrate Judge Joi Elizabeth Peake already had granted a delay until next May because the U.S. Supreme Court was considering whether to hear a Virginia case on transgender restroom access. The justices recently agreed to take up the Virginia matter.

Attorneys in the North Carolina case wrote Peak last week supporting the longer delay.