Opponents of a North Carolina law limiting transgender rights say it should be repealed in part because it also reinforces a prohibition on cities and counties raising the minimum wage, which they say hurts women trying to support their families.
Representative of several organizations and lawmakers held a news conference Monday to draw attention to the wide-ranging law.
The most contentious part of the law requires transgender people to use public bathrooms aligned with their biological sex.
Monica Johnson Hostler with the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault said supporters of the law are wrong when they say restrictions will protect women and children against sexual violence.
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The organizations planned to hold similar “repeal HB 2” news conferences in other parts of the state.
Meanwhile, The American Civil Liberties Union wants a federal judge to keep authorities from enforcing North Carolina’s law requiring transgender people to use public restrooms and showers corresponding to the gender on their birth certificate.
The group made that request in court papers filed Monday. The ACLU’s lawsuit is one of several challenging the legislation, passed in reaction to a Charlotte ordinance allowing transgender people to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity.
Gov. Pat McCrory sued the U.S. Justice Department last week, arguing that the state law is a “commonsense privacy policy” and that the Justice Department’s position is “baseless and blatant overreach.”
The government responded with its own lawsuit, saying the law amounts to “state-sponsored discrimination” and is aimed at “a problem that doesn’t exist.” The Justice Department is also seeking a court order declaring the law discriminatory and unenforceable.
Opponents of the North Carolina’s new law preventing local governments from passing LGBT anti-discrimination protections and directing which bathrooms transgender people can use are getting together in Raleigh to push for its repeal.
The Forward Together movement led by the state NAACP scheduled a rally late Monday between the Legislative Building and the old Capitol building where Gov. Pat McCrory keeps his office. Participants will talk about their proposals to expand protections and the need for a higher minimum wage.
A similar rally three weeks ago at the opening of the General Assembly’s annual work session ended with the arrests of more than 50 people inside the Legislative Building. Authorities say those arrested refused to leave the building or Speaker Tim Moore’s office in protest of the law.
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