Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Enforcement of State Bathroom Law At UNC

US District Court Judge Thomas Schroeder has ruled that the University of North Carolina must allow transgender students and staff to use the toilets that match their gender identity. Two transgender students and a university employee, all represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, were the plaintiffs challenging the controversial legislation the North Carolina state government passed in March. The North Carolina law has sparked boycotts of the state by corporations, entertainers and the National Basketball Association, which pulled its 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte.

Thomas Schroeder, the USA district judge who made the ruling, returned the state law regarding bathrooms in UNC System schools, for these individuals, to the “status quo” before the law was passed in March. Under H.B. 2, people are legally required to use public restrooms that correspond to the biological sex on their birth certificates, rather than their gender identity. But the fight is not over: “we won’t rest until this discriminatory law is defeated”, Carcano told the Associated Press. A federal judge in Texas is blocking for now the Obama administration’s directive to US public schools that transgender students must be allowed to use the bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their chosen gender identity.

The full case to challenge HB2 is expected to go on trial in November. However, Schroeder denied the preliminary injunction on the equal protection claim and reserved his ruling on the due process claim pending additional briefing from the parties.

“On the current record, there is no reason to believe that a return to the status quo ante pending a trial on the merits will compromise the important State interests asserted”, Schroeder said.

Schroeder, an appointee of Republican former President George W. Bush, heard oral arguments for the injunction on August 1 in Winston-Salem.

Lawyers for Republican Governor Pat McCrory and other Republican lawmakers who support the law said it offered common-sense protection of state residents’ privacy and safety, even though it included no specific language for enforcement. For now, UNC employee and plaintiff Joaquin Carcano is relieved and energized to continue fighting. Federal courts in Virginia and Texas have recently blocked schools from following the Obama administration’s guidance allowing transgender students to choose facilities based on gender identity.

To critics here in the Tar Heel State, House Bill 2 flies in the face of a long-cultivated image of North Carolina as a reasonably welcoming Southern state with growing, thriving urban areas – a success attributable to heavy state investment, particularly in education and training, which had the knock-on effect of attracting more top-end talent.