North Carolina Republican Gov. Pat McCrory has spoken out on the Department of Justice’s demand the state revoke its transgender bathroom law or face legal consequences.
McCrory told “Fox News Sunday” the DOJ’s expectations are “unrealistic” and the federal government is being a “bully.” He added he will have a decision within 24 hours, but wouldn’t say what he plans to do. The DOJ sent a letter to the state’s leaders Wednesday informing them they had until Monday to comply.
“I don’t think that three working days is enough time for such a pretty big threat,” McCrory told Fox News. “It’s the federal government being a bully, making law.”
The DOJ letter claims HB2 violates Title IX and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, The Charlotte Observer first reported Wednesday. HB2 requires transgender people use the restroom that corresponds with the sex on their birth certificate and bans local governments from making LGBT ordinances. The law has been the source of national debate and multiple boycotts.
Title IX of the Civil Rights Act prohibits educational discrimination on the basis of sex and Title VII prohibits employers from discriminating. If the state will not comply with the demands, it could lose millions of dollars in federal funds.
North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore said Thursday the state’s legislature won’t comply.
“We will take no action by Monday,” Moore said in a broadcast by the Raleigh News & Observer. “That deadline will come and go. Obviously, we don’t ever want to lose any money, but we’re not going to get bullied by the Obama administration to take action prior to Monday’s date. That’s not how this works.”
The battle began when Charlotte’s city council passed an ordinance allowing people to use the bathroom for the gender they choose. In response to the city’s ordinance, the state passed HB2. The ACLU, Lambda Legal, and the ACLU of North Carolina filed suit in late March saying the new law allows businesses to refuse to serve or hire LGBT people and leaves them no legal recourse. Now the DOJ is piling on which could leak to a lengthy legal battle.
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