North Carolina is at the center of the national debate over self-identification. The city of Charlotte passed a local law allowing men to choose which bathroom, locker room, or shower based on their choice. The state of North Carolina passed into law, HB-2, a state law to nullify the Charlotte law. This new law said that people would use the bathroom based on the sex designation on their birth certificate. This unleashed national outrage.
Paypal halted their new 400 employee office targeted for Charlotte. California and New York governments banned employee travel to North Carolina. Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, and Boston canceled concerts in protest. Update: The NBA canceled the 2017 All Star game.
Attorney General Roy Cooper refuses to enforce the NC law, claiming unconstitutionality. (Note: Mr. Cooper is running for governor in the November election against Gov. McCrory. I left a voicemail and sent an email to Mr. Cooper’s office the day of his announcement, requesting his justification for how it violated the constitution. Mr. Cooper’s office has not responded as of this article.)
US attorney general, Loretta Lynch, declared that NC is in violation of Title 7 (Civil Rights Act) and Title 9 (university discrimination); threatening to withhold federal funding for schools and roads as a punishment.
President Obama parrots the same as the DOJ, speaking about NC discrimination at press conferences in the US and in Great Britain. He has not proposed for congress to pass a law to resolve this perceived problem.
The DOJ gave NC three days to respond to their request that NC overturns HB-2. NC asked for more time but was refused. On the deadline date, NC did respond – with a lawsuit suing the DOJ. The DOJ responded with a countersuit. Why a countersuit? The NC case was filed in the eastern NC US district court and The DOJ case was filed in the middle NC US district court. This allows the DOJ to hedge their bets that one of the two courts will favor their case. Regardless, this is probably headed to the Supreme Court.
The opposition claims that the case is only about transgender people. This is about government over-reach concerning state’s rights. The DOJ is wanting to redefine the term “sex” in Title 7. The original meaning in the 1970’s was biological gender. Now the DOJ is redefining the term to mean “gender-identification”. The DOJ enforces the law, but Congress writes the law.
If discrimination is based on identification then when does it end? Can I identify as a handicapped person and receive benefits? Can I identify as an African American and receive scholarship money as a minority? Where is the dividing line between reality and identification?
I agree with Gov. Pat McCrory. I do not want men in the bathroom with my wife or daughter. HB-2 was a needed, but not perfect law. Stand strong, Governor, in support of common sense and decency.
The NC lawsuit elevates this case from an NC issue to a 50 states issue. I don’t believe that NC is the last of the 50 states to resist bathroom openness. But yet, NC is under the microscope for taking a stand, bullied by musicians, businesses, and local governments.
Our constitution is resilient when protected and defended. It becomes brittle when viewed as a living constitution due to a Humpty-dumpty mindset.
“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’
searching the scriptures daily 