Incoming NC Governor Says HB2 Will Be Repealed in Special Session

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iStock/Thinkstock(RALEIGH, N.C.) — North Carolina Governor-elect Roy Cooper said legislative leaders have promised there will be a special session Tuesday to repeal the controversial House Bill 2, known as HB2, or the “bathroom bill.”

The law requires public schools, public college campuses and government agencies to designate multiple-occupancy bathrooms and changing facilities, such as locker rooms, for use only by people based on their “biological sex” stated on their birth certificate. Under the law, transgender people may not use bathrooms and changing facilities that correspond to their gender identity unless they get the sex on their birth certificate changed.

Cooper’s announcement Monday came after the Charlotte City Council met Monday morning and voted 10-0 to rescind its local LGBT ordinance that led to HB2, The Charlotte Observer reported.

“Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore assured me that as a result of Charlotte’s vote, a special session will be called for Tuesday to repeal HB2 in full,” Cooper said in a statement Monday. “I hope they will keep their word to me and with the help of Democrats in the legislature, HB2 will be repealed in full. Full repeal will help to bring jobs, sports and entertainment events back and will provide the opportunity for strong LGBT protections in our state.”

Outgoing Republican Gov. Pat McCrory came under fire earlier this year for signing HB2 into law.

The law’s supporters say it’s necessary to protect women and children from sexual offenders who might claim to be transgender in order to access bathrooms of the opposite sex.

Cooper, a Democrat, has called HB2 “one of the most discriminatory laws in the country” and argued that the bill should be repealed.

The NBA announced in July that it was moving the 2017 All-Star Weekend out of Charlotte over concerns about HB2 — one of the most high-profile hit to the city economy due to the controversial law.

McCrory conceded the North Carolina gubernatorial race to Cooper earlier this month, weeks after Election Day and after requesting a recount.

A statement Monday morning from McCrory’s press secretary, Graham Wilson, said, “As promised, Governor McCrory will call a special session.”

“Governor McCrory has always publicly advocated a repeal of the overreaching Charlotte ordinance. But those efforts were always blocked by [Charlotte Mayor] Jennifer Roberts, Roy Cooper and other Democratic activists,” Wilson said. “This sudden reversal with little notice after the gubernatorial election sadly proves this entire issue originated by the political left was all about politics and winning the governor’s race at the expense of Charlotte and our entire state.”

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