North Carolina's governor vetoes trio of LGBTQ+ restrictions

North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed Wednesday a trio of bills aimed at LGBTQ+ youth that would ban gender-affirming health care for minors, restrict transgender participation in school sports and limit classroom instruction about gender identity and sexuality.

While LGBTQ+ rights advocates say Cooper's attempt to block the bills demonstrates his support amid what they view as unrelenting attacks from the General Assembly, his veto stamp carries little weight now that Republicans hold narrow veto-proof majorities in both chambers. His vetoes are not expected to survive override attempts, which could happen as soon as next week when lawmakers return from their Fourth of July break.

Cooper denounced the bills as “a triple threat of political culture wars” that he said would interfere with the ability of doctors and parents to care for vulnerable children whose lives have been thrust into the political spotlight and upended by legislation in dozens of Republican-led states.

Before this year, North Carolina had largely refrained from passing LGBTQ+ regulations after its 2016 “bathroom bill” — which restricted transgender access to public restrooms and banned cities from en acting new anti discrimination ordinances — cost the state millions in lost business before it was rolled back in 2017 and settled in federal court in 2019. These policies, Cooper warned, could damage the state's reputation and economy in a similar way.

One of the three vetoed bills would bar North Carolina medical professionals from providing hormone therapy, puberty-blocking drugs and surgical gendertransition procedures to anyone under 18, with limited medical exceptions. Young people who begin treatment before Aug. 1 — when the law would take effect — could continue receiving treatment if their doctors deem it medically necessary and their parents consent.