Justice, Money, Politics

North Carolina's Cynical 'Repeal' Is For Money, Not To Help Transgender People

It's not about helping people, it is about cold, hard cash.

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Greed moneyNorth Carolina is in a bit of a pickle. The egregious HB2, or bathroom bill, is nothing more than a plain attempt to police trans bodies, but it does more than take away basic human rights from a portion of the population — it is costing the state cold, hard cash. (To the tune of $3.76 billion.)

You see, sports are big business in this country and the NCAA refuses to do business in the state while HB2 is on the books. Two days ago, North Carolina was given a 48-hour deadline to repeal the law if they want in on any NCAA championship sites through 2022. So the NC legislature burned the midnight oil, hoping to come up with a deal that would allow them access to some of those sweet, sweet dolla bills y’all.

At 10:30 p.m. last night, North Carolina Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore held a press conference to announce the repeal of HB2. So victory, right? The mighty hand of the free market has yielded its power and forced compliance with evolving norms, right?

Not so fast.

There’s a lot in the law that suggests it is less than a full repeal. Mara Keisling, Executive Director of National Center for Transgender Equality, rebuked the notion that it is a repeal:

Let me be clear: this is not a repeal. It’s a cynical ploy that will continue to hurt North Carolina and transgender people. Passing this bill would mean that North Carolina continues to be one of the very few states where it’s illegal for cities to protect the rights of their residents. It pushes aside real North Carolinians in favor of political expediency.

This backroom deal resembles how North Carolina’s political leaders originally passed HB 2, which former Gov. Pat McCrory signed into law late at night just over a year ago. Just like last March, and just like December’s repeal attempt, the people of North Carolina have once again had no opportunity to give input on legislation that will affect all of them.

The new version of the law includes key features of HB2, specifically banning municipalities from passing their own anti-discrimination or worker protections until 2020. This “compromise” was roundly criticized, pretty much right away. Here’s a round-up of what everyone who hates the new law (same as the old law) is saying.

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Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said:

“The consequences of this hateful law will only continue without full repeal of HB2,” he said. “Sellouts cave under pressure. Leaders fight for what’s right.”

Simone Bell, Lambda Legal’s Southern regional director, said:

“There can be no compromise on civil rights, and HB2 has proven this over the last year,” she said. “This so-called ‘deal’ may be an economic quick fix, but it continues to write discrimination into the law. A deal that leaves out LGBT North Carolinians, and particularly transgender people, should be no deal at all. It is shameful to stamp a start date on equality. Lawmakers should demand a full, clean repeal, and enact comprehensive nondiscrimination protections and not leave our community unprotected in the name of ‘compromise.’”

And the president of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP, Dr. William Barber II, said the repeal was nothing more than a “bait and switch.”

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But, let’s be frank here: North Carolina isn’t acting to make civil rights leaders happy. They are trying to seduce the NCAA into holding big basketball games in its state. We’ll know soon enough if the ruse was successful: the NCAA will announce the location of their championship games through 2022 on April 18th.

North Carolina Legislature Approves Repeal Of HB2, But It Doesn’t Seem To Be Much Of A Repeal At All [Huffington Post]

headshotKathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. ATL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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