Editor’s Note: After a lively debate, both houses of the North Carolina legislature approved the measure and sent it to Gov. Roy Cooper for his expected signature.
Don’t believe the hype.
The “compromise” North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger announced at a Wednesday night news conference is not a repeal of the anti-LGBTQ legislation known as House Bill 2.
At this hour North Carolina’s Senate and House are convening to discuss and vote on House Bill 142.
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What is the difference between HB2 and HB142?
One year, 140 bills and this time the legislators are doing their dirty work in the light of day.
But this so-called “compromise” with Gov. Roy Cooper is not a clean repeal of the law restricting transgender people to the public bathrooms of the gender marked on their birth certificates. It is not a clean repeal of the law that stopped cities across the Tar Heel state from enacting their own ordinances to protect its people against discrimination. HB142 is a bill that actually maintains many of the discriminatory aspects of the law it’s been crafted to replace.
Technically, the proposed “compromise” does repeal HB2, but then immediately reinstates much of it, as Think Progress noted.
- Only the state legislature would be able to pass any legislation related to the use of multiple-occupancy bathrooms. Thus, no city or public school could assure trans people that they can use facilities that actually match their gender identity.
- Municipalities would still be banned from passing any LGBT nondiscrimination protections until December 1, 2020.
Gov. Cooper is on the record saying he supports the “compromise:”
“It’s not a perfect deal, but it repeals House Bill 2 and begins to repair our reputation.”
But what he doesn’t say is that the real reason for this “deal” is money.
The NCAA reportedly has North Carolina on the clock. Either it repeals HB2 by today or the state risks losing the opportunity to host any championship games for the next five years.
If you want to, you can scroll through Twitter and see all the LGBTQ groups and business allies denouncing this new version of hateful legislation with the hashtag #RepealHB2. But all you really need to see, if you want to know why HB142 is worthless, why it should not be signed into law, is this one tweet, from former Gov. Pat McCrory.
I urge #NCGA & @NC_Governor to finally stick with this deal that still respects privacy and let Supreme Court resolve issue for our nation.
— Pat McCrory (@PatMcCroryNC) March 30, 2017
Watch the debate from North Carolina’s state house live via PBS below.
HB2 ‘compromise’ is just another version of hate in North Carolina