Judge: ‘Bathroom bill’ gone; how are plaintiffs harmed?
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A federal judge said Monday he was “at a loss” to understand how transgender North Carolinians are being harmed by a compromise law that undid the state’s “bathroom bill” but also prevented local governments from enacting new LGBT protections.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder heard arguments from lawyers for Republican legislative leaders who say the lawsuit should be dismissed because plaintiffs can’t prove they’re still being harmed by the current law. The plaintiffs argue the replacement law continues its predecessor’s damage by creating uncertainty that leaves transgender people afraid to use restrooms matching their identity.
The 2017 replacement law did away with the “bathroom bill” requirement that transgender people use restrooms that correspond to their sex at birth in many public buildings. The current law, H.B. 142, made clear that only state lawmakers are in charge of restroom access rules. The new law also bars local governments from enacting new nondiscrimination ordinances for workplaces, hotels and restaurants until December 2020.
Schroeder asked lawyers for the plaintiffs several times to explain how the current law is creating legal harm when it removes an old restroom restriction and doesn’t impose new ones.
He also questioned how the plaintiffs’ ability to use restrooms matching their identity differs from what it was before the original “bathroom bill” was enacted in 2016.
American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Chase Strangio argued his clients are at a disadvantage because even when they seek clarity from local governments or school officials, they’re often refused any guidance under a law that makes clear only state lawmakers can regulate bathroom access.
Yet, non-transgender people don’t face the same problem because the state effectively continues to regulate restrooms for everyone else through men’s and women’s signs, Strangio said.