Settlement reached: North Carolina officials cannot enforce transgender bathroom bill News
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Settlement reached: North Carolina officials cannot enforce transgender bathroom bill

After more than three years of legal dispute, a federal judge in North Carolina approved a settlement Tuesday that will allow transgender people to use the bathrooms in state buildings that match their gender identities.

North Carolina’s House Bill 2 (HB 2), “the bathroom bill,” was passed in March 2016, requiring transgender people to use public restrooms that corresponded with the gender of their birth certificate, and making it illegal for local governments to adopt anti-LGBT-discrimination policies. Nationwide outrage and statewide division ensued and House Bill 142 was passed, which repealed HB 2 but maintained state government facilities to follow the restriction, and kept the ban on municipalities passing anti-discrimination ordinances.

Tuesday’s order states that nothing in HB 142 “can be construed by the Executive Branch Defendants to prevent transgender people from lawfully using public facilities in accordance with their gender identity.” It also enjoins the government from prosecuting an individual “for using public facilities under the control or supervision of the Executive Branch, when such otherwise lawful use conforms with the individual’s gender identity.”

The settlement does not resolve the section challenging local municipalities from passing anti-LGBT-discrimination ordinances.

In a press release, Irena Como, acting legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina said, “We are thrilled to obtain some clarity and relief for transgender North Carolinians who have been suffering under H.B. 2 and H.B. 142 for years. While this part of the court fight may be ending, so much urgent work remains as long as people who are LGBTQ are denied basic protections from violence and discrimination simply because of who they are.”