The North Carolina Legislature voted to approve a “compromise” that seriously harms HB 2, a law that was passed to protect the privacy and safety of women and children in private spaces such as restrooms, locker rooms and changing areas.
The NCAA and other groups used bullying tactics to get the lawmakers to agree to the “deal.” The NCAA threatened to not schedule any tournaments in the state until 2022 if the law was left in place as is.
John Rustin, president of the North Carolina Family Policy Council, one of Family Policy Alliance’s 40 allied groups, was disappointed, but determined.
” House Bill 2 was the strongest bathroom privacy and safety law in the nation,” he said. “We will continue to urge our state lawmakers to stand strong and resist the threats of the NCAA and others who would willingly place our state’s women and children at risk.”
The compromise also drew criticism from groups on the other side of the issue. National LGBT rights group, the Human Rights Campaign and the ACLU of North Carolina opposed it, particularly the language that prevents local communities from passing ordinances for the next four years to regulate private employment practices and businesses.
”The real tragedy today is that North Carolina legislators voted for the bullying tactics of the NCAA over the privacy and safety of their own citizens who put them in office. They’ve angered both the Right and the Left sides of their constituencies, and no doubt North Carolina voters will remember that in November 2018.”
Texas is now the only state left with a privacy bill working in the works. SB 6 passed the Senate on March 14 and is now waiting for a vote in the House. If any state can stand up to the school yard tactics, it’s Texas.
“We call on the members of the Texas House to now consider the merits of the Texas Privacy Act,” said Jonathan Saenz of Texas Values, “which respects private business while making it clear that boys do not belong in the girls’ room in our public schools.”
