Another North Carolina Republican state senator is urging colleagues to consider repealing a law about LGBT rights that’s caused the NCAA and Atlantic Coast Conference to pull championships from the state this week.
Sen. Rick Gunn, R-Alamance, said late Wednesday he’s concerned about the effect House Bill 2 is having on the state and the region he represents. For more than 60 years, ACC headquarters have been located in nearby Greensboro, which is also where early rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament would have been held in March before the decision.
While dozens of Democratic lawmakers at the General Assembly have called for repeal of the law approved in March, Republican legislative leaders and GOP Gov. Pat McCrory have defended the law robustly, asking a federal court to uphold it.
“I think it is time we give serious consideration to modifying, or possibly repealing,” the law, Gunn said in a statement.
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Sen. Tamara Barringer, R-Wake, also urged repeal on Tuesday, the day after the NCAA announced its decision to pull seven championship events this school year. Four of the events were located in Cary, were Barringer lives.
Law supporters say it was designed to keep men or boys from sharing school restrooms or locker rooms with girls. Gunn says federal courts can do that by striking down a directive by President Barack Obama’s administrative telling schools to let transgender students use restrooms and locker rooms aligned with their gender identity.
The legislature is next scheduled to convene in January.
My official statement concerning this week's developments: #ncpol #ncga #HB2 pic.twitter.com/m9zQNaX2Fl
— Senator Rick Gunn (@SenatorRickGunn) September 15, 2016
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
