UPDATE: Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the Justice Department
will file a federal civil rights lawsuit to declare North Carolina’s
so-called “bathroom bill” discriminatory and bar its implementation.
Lynch accused legislators of creating state-sponsored discrimination
against transgender individuals.
“This law provides no benefit to society, and all it does is harm
vulnerable Americans,” she said in an afternoon press conference to
announce the suit. “This action is about a great deal more than
bathrooms. This is about the dignity and the respect that we accord our
fellow citizens and the laws that we as a people and as a country
enacted to protect them—indeed to protect all of us.”
OUR EARLIER REPORT (1:45 p.m.): North Carolina filed a lawsuit against
the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on May 9 to preemptively defend its
law that protects public establishments from being forced to provide
restroom and locker room access based on gender identity rather than
biology.
On May 4, the Obama administration formally scolded North Carolina Gov.
Pat McCrory, a Republican, by issuing a letter demanding the state
overturn its restroom law, known as HB2, or face the loss of millions in
federal funding. The Justice Department claimed the law discriminates
against transgender individuals, who it said make up a protected class
under the Civil Rights Act, by not allowing them to use the restrooms
that match their self-determined gender identity.
McCrory asked for and was denied an extension to respond to the DOJ,
which gave him three business days to “remedy the situation.” The
governor said the DOJ responded it would only grant an extension if he
publicly admitted the law is discriminatory. “I could not agree to do
that because I do not agree with their interpretation of federal law. So
this morning I have asked for a federal court to clarify this,” McCrory
said at a news conference today.
Court battles will now determine the fate of HB2 and whether businesses
and schools across the country need to provide special accommodations
for transgender individuals. But McCrory also called on Congress to take
action.
“Ultimately, I think it is time for the U.S. Congress to bring clarity
to our national anti-discrimination provisions under Title VII and Title
IX,” he said.
Today’s lawsuit said the Justice Department’s assertions are baseless
and a blatant overreach of power. The suit said the department is trying
to rewrite federal law on its own volition and disregarding what the
law actually says. It claimed the Obama administration has a “radical
reinterpretation” of the Civil Rights Act.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from
discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color,
national origin, and religion. A similar provision in Title IX of the
Education Amendments of 1972 says federally funded educational
institutions cannot discriminate on the basis of sex. The Justice
Department claims gender identity falls under sex, which is a federally
protected class.
McCrory said in a Fox News interview Sunday that sex corresponds with
biology, not people’s personal beliefs about their bodies. He said how
he responds to the federal request will have implications for the rest
of the country.
“This is no longer just a North Carolina issue,” McCrory said. “This is
a basic change of norms that we’ve used for decades throughout the
United States of America, and the Obama administration is now trying to
change that norm—again not just in North Carolina.”
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) agrees the administration has a
flawed interpretation of what federal law protects. Last week, ADF filed
suit against the DOJ for its actions against North Carolina.
“It’s absurd to assert, as the Department of Justice does, that by
placing the word ‘sex’ in federal nondiscrimination laws, Congress
intended to force states to open their restrooms to people of the
opposite biological sex,” said Kellie Fiedorek, legal counsel with ADF.
“Gov. McCrory and the state of North Carolina are fulfilling their duty
to protect the privacy rights of their citizens. The DOJ should stop
bullying North Carolina with falsehoods about what federal law
requires.”
If defeated, North Carolina could lose its right to set up its own
restroom policies, along with an exorbitant amount of money. The letter
included a notice for state universities also to change their restroom
policies. North Carolina schools could lose hundreds of millions of
dollars in federal funding if they refuse to comply.
McCrory said Sunday whatever happens to North Carolina’s universities
will also set a national precedent for the thousands of schools in
America that receive federal dollars.
“[The DOJ is] now telling every university that accepts federal funding
that boys who may think they’re a girl can go into a girl’s locker room
or restroom or shower facility,” McCrory told Fox News.
Amid public outcry after McCrory signed the HB2 in March, he made an
executive order to help appease concerns. Originally, the law applied to
all public restrooms in the state, including private businesses,
McCrory said. But the executive order allowed for the private sector to
make its own rules for its facilities, and the law now only pertains to
government offices, universities, and roadside rest stops.
Courtesy: WORLD News Service
No comments:
Post a Comment