The Department of Justice says North Carolina’s new law that protects women and children from potential sexual predators in public rest rooms violates the civil rights of gay and transgender individuals, prompting a strong pushback from the Family Research Council.
“This letter is to inform you that the Department of Justice has determined that, as a result of compliance with and implementation of North Carolina House Bill 2…both you and the state of North Carolina…are in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended…,” states a May 4 letter to GOP Governor Pat McCrory.
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement regarding the DOJ’s threat:
The Department of Justice is totally out of control. The far-Left bullies at the Department of Justice are threatening action against North Carolina because the state designated restrooms in government buildings for men only and women only.
President Obama’s hypocrisy is stunning. If President Obama truly wanted to, he could issue an executive order bringing this kind of bathroom chaos to every federal agency and national park in America. However, he hasn’t because he knows how unpopular it would be.
“We stand with North Carolina and urge its leaders to stand up to this abuse of power,” Perkins added. “If the President won’t rein in the Department of Justice, then it’s time for Congress to do so.”
The FRC also released a video slamming Obama for his focus on bathroom rules, even amid multiple national security crises.
The North Carolina law affirms the long-standing public preference that men should use men’s bathrooms, and women should use women’s bathrooms.
Liberal social justice warriors, however, claim the law discriminates against transgendered individuals or anyone who – at any given time of the day – believes he or she is a member of the opposite sex and wishes to use the bathroom of that sex.
McCrory signed the privacy and public safety bill into law to replace an ordinance in Charlotte that allowed any man who simply declared himself to be a woman to use women’s restrooms. The ordinance was pushed forward by registered sex offender Chad Sevearance.
The new state law is a compromise measure because it requires that people use the bathroom that matches the sex on their birth certificate. That means transgender people can change their legal sex — and then legally use the bathrooms they prefer — after they begin medical procedures to help change their sexual appearance.
However, the federal government’s letter says the state law is illegal.
Specifically, the State is engaging in a pattern or practice of discrimination against transgender state employees and both you, in your official capacity, and the State are engaging in a pattern or practice of resistance to the full enjoyment of Title VII rights by transgender employees of public agencies…
Access to sex-segregated restrooms and other workplace facilities consistent with gender identity is a term, condition, or privilege of employment. Denying such access to transgender individuals, whose gender identity is different from their gender assigned at birth, while affording it to similarly situated non-transgender employees, violates Title VII…
Based upon the above, we have concluded that, in violation of Title VII, the State is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against its employees and both you and the State are engaged in a pattern or practice of resistance to the full enjoyment of Title VII rights by employees of public agencies. When the Attorney General of the United States has a reasonable basis to believe that a state or person has engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination in violation of Title VII, she may apply to the appropriate court for an order that will ensure compliance…
According to the Associated Press, intervention by the DOJ places the state in danger of losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal school funding.
McCrory released the following statement regarding the DOJ’s warning:
A claim by the Obama administration charges that one part of House Bill 2, which requires state employees in public government buildings and students in our universities to use a restroom, locker room and shower facility that match their biological sex, is now in violation of federal law. The Obama administration has not only staked out its position for North Carolina, but for all states, universities and most employers in the U.S.
The right and expectation of privacy in one of the most private areas of our personal lives is now in jeopardy. We will be reviewing to determine the next steps.
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