Federal judge limits enforcement of transgender bathroom law at UNC

A federal judge on Friday issued an injunction barring the University of North Carolina school system from enforcing part of the state’s controversial HB2 that mandates transgender students must use public restrooms in university buildings that match their gender assigned at birth.

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.

A federal judge in North Carolina ruled that three plaintiffs have the right to use the restroom of their choice. “In addition, if the trespasser is a student, he or she is subject to discipline under one of UNC’s student codes of conduct, which generally prohibit students from violating federal, State, or local laws”. His final decision on the law won’t come until after that trial.

Schroeder wrote in an 83-page order issued on Friday afternoon that until the legal battle is over, schools in North Carolina can not enforce HB2. U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder’s injunction doesn’t strike down the law officially, impacting only restrooms on UNC campuses. Today, the tightness that I have felt in my chest every day since H.B.

Previously tweeting, the National Basketball Association said it was “deeply concerned that this discriminatory law runs counter to our guiding principals of equality and mutual respect and do not know what impact it will have on our ability to successfully host the 2017 All-Star game in Charlotte”. Republican supporters of HB 2 stood by their claim that allowing transgender people to use their preferred bathrooms could pose a public safety risk.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Lambda Legal filed the lawsuit after Republican lawmakers approved and Governor Pat McCrory signed House Bill 2 during a one-day special session in March. The injunction affects three plaintiffs, including an employee at the Chapel Hill campus, a student at UNC’s Greensboro campus, and a high school student at the state School of Arts, which is run by the university system.

This preliminary injunction is an early step in a complex case that brings equal protection claims and due process claims, in addition to the allegations that HB2 violates Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. “As reflected in long-standing university policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, and we are fully committed to being open and welcoming to individuals of all backgrounds”.

A federal judge ruled Friday that the University of North Carolina system can not enforce the part of the state’s House Bill 2 law that deals with which restrooms transgender people use, a controversial provision that prompted the Justice Department to sue the state.