North Carolina became the first state to pass a “bathroom bill” that ensures that people will use public facilities that accord with their sex.
Both chambers of the state legislature quickly passed a bill Wednesday that removed power on the issue from cities and local governments and the governor signed it before the night was out.
The General Assembly was called into a special session specifically for the purpose of reversing Charlotte’s ordinance that allowed people to use toilets, showers and other sex-segregated public facilities according to their gender preference, not their biological sex.
The House overwhelmingly passed the bill barring cities and such other government entities as public schools and bureaucratic agencies from passing transgender-access policies and ordinances.
The bill went the desk of Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, who signed it despite not having committed himself beforehand on the issue, saying the bill was “passed by a bipartisan majority to stop this breach of basic privacy and etiquette.”
The Charlotte ordinance had been set to take effect April 1.
“All North Carolina citizens expect bodily privacy in showers, locker rooms and bathrooms,” said Rep. Dean Arp, Union County Republican, during debate in his chamber, which passed the bill on an 83-25 vote.
House Speaker Tim Moore said the Charlotte law was a violation of people’s privacy because it would allow biological males to shower and urinate alongside women.
“When any local government goes so far as to not protect the privacy rights of folks, then the General Assembly will in fact step in,” he said.
The Senate unanimously passed the bill on the 32-0 vote later in the evening after Democrats staged a dramatic walkout that the chamber’s Republican leader called unprecedented and a violation of their duty.
Democrats in the legislature called the law discriminatory and warned of economic boycotts.
“This is really not about bathrooms,” Rep. Rodney Moore, Charlotte Democrat, said. “This is about fear.”
Two other states — South Dakota and Tennessee — have recently seen their legislatures move on bills to countermand transgender bathroom and shower access.
But in neither state did a bill finally become law. The state legislature in South Dakota failed to override the governor’s veto and the Tennessee bill unexpectedly died in the legislature earlier this week.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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