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House Bill 2 Repealed But Challenges Remain for LGBTQ Community

By Kevin Murphy

The repeal of House Bill 2 ends a year of high drama in The Old North State, but many challenges remain for the LGBTQ community. Gone is the clause prohibiting anyone from using a restroom other than that which corresponds to their birth certificate. But also missing is any protection affirmatively granting transgender, genderqueer, and gender nonconforming people the right to use the restroom corresponding to their gender identity.

This vacuum is a return to the status quo pre-HB2. For publicly owned facilities, gone is the worry that using the restroom is against the law. Without any legal protection, however, the simple act of using the restroom continues to be dangerous in light of potential harassment or physical aggression from others in the bathroom.

As to private employers, it remains legal in North Carolina to deny someone employment or access to public accommodations on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity following this repeal. Local governments are powerless to provide otherwise until Dec. 1, 2020.

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HB2 ‘Repeal’: How Does It Change Employment Law?

Labor & Employment Section

By Laura J. Wetsch

On March 23, 2016, the General Assembly enacted, and Gov. McCrory signed, HB2, which became Session Law 2016-3.  On July 18, 2016, Gov. McCrory “approved” HB169 (the legislative “fix”), which became Session Law 2016-99.

On the one-year anniversary of HB2, the NCAA set a deadline of March 30, 2016, for North Carolina to repeal HB2 or be eliminated as a possible venue for hosting any NCAA championship games through 2022. Accordingly, on March 30 the General Assembly filed, passed, and Gov. Cooper signed, HB142, which repeals both S.L. 2016-3 and S.L. 2016-99, and amends NCGS § 143-760 (created by HB2) to prevent any “local government in this State” from enacting or amending “an ordinance regulating private employment practices or regulating public accommodations” until Dec. 1, 2020 (at which point that provision expires), and preempt regulation of access to multiple occupancy restrooms, showers or changing facilities by “State agencies, boards, offices, departments, institutions, branches of government, including the University of North Carolina and the North Carolina Community College System, and political subdivisions of the State, including local boards of education,” “except in accordance with an act of the General Assembly.”

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