Feds say N.C. LGBT law illegal

Justice Department warns state law violates U.S. civil rights protections.

RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina law limiting protections to LGBT people violates federal civil rights laws and can’t be enforced, the U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday, putting the state on notice that it is in danger of being sued and losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.

The law, which also requires transgender people to use public bathrooms that conform to the sex on their birth certificate, has been broadly condemned by gay-rights groups, businesses and entertainers, some of whom have relocated offices or canceled shows in the state.

In a letter to Gov. Pat McCrory, the Justice Department said federal officials view the state law as violating federal Civil Rights Act protections barring workplace discrimination based on sex. Provisions of the state law directed at transgender state employees violate their anti-discrimination protections, the letter said.

“The State is engaging in a pattern or practice of discrimination against transgender state employees and both you, in your official capacity, and the state are engaging in a pattern or practice of resistance” of their rights, the letter said.

McCrory’s spokesmen did not respond to email and text messages. In the past the governor, who signed the bill into law in March, has defended it and said he didn’t think it would have any financial impact, either on the economy in general or on federal school funding.

The Justice Department also said in its letter that it has notified the 17-campus University of North Carolina systemthat the state law violates Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, which bars discrimination in education based on sex. That could lead to losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal school funding.

The letter seeks confirmation by Monday that “the State will not comply with or implement H.B. 2.”