Last Wednesday the Justice Department declared that the North Carolina’s House Bill 2 violated the U.S. Civil Rights Act and Title IX. Go figure. The department gave NC officials until Monday, May 9, to respond.
Here’s a quick update for those of you that have no idea what the House Bill 2 is:
North Carolina passed this bill in March, forcing people to use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender on their birth certificate.
As a North Carolina native, I’m truly ashamed of what my state government is doing. I’m just going to put that out there right now, and I know I’m not the only one. People are literally boycotting North Carolina. Businesses are choosing not to relocate to or expand in the state, artists are refusing to play their concerts in North Carolina, and the NBA might move the 2017 All-Star game that is supposed to be played there.
Wake up North Carolina, people are speaking to you.
If what the Justice Department claims is “found” to be true, which face it, it is, then North Carolina could potentially lose federal education funding. Based on this bill, though, it seems like we might be in need of a bit more education…
Now fast forward to May 9th. Minutes before I started writing this article, Governor Pat McCrory sued the department in federal court. He’s seeking a court to overturn the assertion that HB2 violates Title IX on the Civil Rights Act. He accused the Obama’s administration of inventing federal law in finding HB2 discriminatory.
“The Obama administration is bypassing Congress by attempting to rewrite the law and set restroom policies for public and private employers across the country, not just North Carolina,” he said. “This is now a national issue that applies to every state and it needs to be resolved at the federal level. They are now telling every government agency and every company that employs more than 15 people that men should be allowed to use a women’s locker room, restroom or shower facility.”
I’m sorry. WHAT.
Here’s the definition of "discriminate":
- to make a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than individual merit; show partiality
Okay, now "discriminatory":
- characterized by or showing prejudicial treatment, especially as an indication of bias related to age, color, national origin, religion, SEX, etc.
I’m not really sure what else to even say. I guess I’ll start saving my money for a plane ticket to the NBA All-Star game now, because who knows where it’s going.