A federal judge has slammed the brakes on part of House Bill 2, the anti-LGBTQ law in North Carolina, specifically the provision that impacts transgender people.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder issued a very limited injunction Friday in the lawsuit the American Civil Liberties Union filed on behalf of trans plaintiffs against the University of North Carolina.
Schroeder barred UNC from enforcing the provision at the heart of that lawsuit against the three transgender plaintiffs, which restricts trans people to public bathrooms which correspond with the gender listed on their birth certificates.
As BuzzFeed reported, Judge Schroeder wrote in his ruling:
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“Ultimately, the record reflects what counsel for Governor McCrory candidly speculates was the status quo ante in North Carolina in recent years: some transgender individuals have been quietly using bathrooms and other facilities that match their gender identity, without public awareness or incident.”
Schroeder told the parties to follow the status quo, citing the federal court ruling in the case of Virginia trans student Gavin Grimm. That suit hinges on the Obama administration’s interpretation of Title IX’s sex discrimination provision as including anti-transgender discrimination.
That case is expected to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court after it returns October 3. An injunction has put on hold a lower court ruling that Grimm, a trans boy, be allowed to use the boys’ bathrooms until that case is settled.
