North Carolina LGBT law left largely intact

However, lawmakers shortened the statute of limitations from three years to one and refused to expand the list of protected classes to include sexual orientation or gender identity.

It’s unclear how seriously the lawmakers are taking the NBA’s position as they rush to try to come up with changes before the current legislative session ends.

North Carolina can’t afford it. A major part of House Bill 2, passed to overturn a local city ordinance, said that people must use the bathroom according to their biological sex.

Draft legislation circulating this week included a proposal to offer “gender reassignment certificates” that would allow transgender people who haven’t changed the gender on their birth certificate to prove they’ve had gender reassignment surgery – and can therefore use the bathroom they prefer. The rest of the controversial law remains in place.

“Our coastal communities especially will not appreciate that”, said Rep. Chris Sgro of Guilford County, who serves as executive director of Equality North Carolina.

“Protecting the safety and privacy of North Carolina families by keeping grown men out of bathrooms, shower facilities and changing rooms with women and young girls has always been our primary objective”, Berger said in a statement.

House Bill 2 has been a national issue, with some companies pulling out of North Carolina and the NBA threatening to yank the All-Star Game out of Charlotte in 2017.

In a statement, Tami Fitzgerald of the North Carolina Values Coalition said, “North Carolina Values Coalition is not opposed to the reported technical correction bill that intends to reinstate an individual’s ability to file suit for discrimination under state law”. “If the game leaves and the franchise, the Hornet potentially leave, think of the awful domino effect that’s going to have on our continued economic weakness”, Sgro said. Weeks after North Carolina’s law was enacted, the association passed a measure requiring host sites to demonstrate that they are “free of discrimination”.

After the law’s initial passage in March, musicians Bruce Springsteen, Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, and the bands Pearl Jam and Boston canceled concerts in the state. Rallies to support the law, meanwhile, drew thousands of conservatives to Raleigh.

“Legislators shamefully walked away from their job today without fixing the deeply harmful and outrageous mess they created with HB2”, said JoDee Winterhof, senior vice president for policy and political affairs at HRC.