New HB2 “Compromise” Proposal Continues to Discriminate Against LGBT Community
With the NCAA deadline on HB2 fast approaching, politicians in Raleigh have rolled out another so-called “compromise.” Unfortunately this bill is really just HB 2.0. We can’t stand for a repeal bill that continues to discriminate against the LGBT community. It’s time for legislators to step up and fully repeal HB2 with no strings or moratoriums attached.
H.B. 2 bans many transgender people from restrooms matching their gender and prohibits local municipalities from extending nondiscrimination protections to LGBT people. House Bill 186, introduced yesterday, would repeal H.B. 2 but replace it with a range of policies designed to restrict local authority and continue to allow discrimination against LGBT North Carolinians.
“Rather than repeal H.B. 2 entirely, this proposal still sanctions discrimination against transgender people and makes it harder for local governments to protect LGBT people under the law,” said Sarah Gillooly, Policy Director for the ACLU of North Carolina. “Treating LGBT people as second-class citizens whose rights and equal protection can be put to a vote is disgraceful and will not undo the ongoing harm H.B.2 has brought to North Carolina and its people.”
“This proposed bill isn’t fooling anyone. LGBT people aren’t safe under H.B. 2 and they aren’t safe under this proposed bill either,” said Simone Bell, Southern Regional Director for Lambda Legal based in Atlanta. “The General Assembly is going to have to do better than this if their intention is to clean up the state’s anti-LGBT reputation. The repeal and replacement of H.B. 2 with a real nondiscrimination bill, a bill that recognizes the contributions LGBT North Carolinians make to this state, is a critical and essential step forward.”
