McCrory sues Feds over HB2; U.S. attorney general plans ‘enforcement action’

The legal confrontation over North Carolina’s House Bill 2 escalated rapidly on Monday, with Gov. Pat McCrory taking the federal government to court and Attorney General Loretta Lynch scheduled to announce the Justice Department’s own “law enforcement action” against the state later this afternoon.

McCrory’s lawsuit asks a federal court to clarify whether the controversial new law discriminates against transgender people as the U.S. Justice Department contends.

The governor had a Monday deadline to respond to the Justice Department’s discrimination claim. Instead, McCrory’s attorneys sued the Justice Department and Lynch in federal court, seeking a court to overturn their assertion last week that HB2 violates Titles VII and IX of the Civil Rights Act as well as the Violence Against Women Act. Title IX bans discrimination at schools, universities and any education program receiving federal money. North Carolina receives billions in federal education dollars every year. Title VII prohibits workplace discrimination.

A spokesman for the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., confirmed Monday that Lynch will hold a 3:30 p.m. press conference to announce federal action against the state over HB2. It is not known what the response will involve. But critics of HB2 says it places the state’s share of federal school money in jeopardy.

The law was passed by the General Assembly after the city of Charlotte extended LGBT protections, including a provision that allowed transgendered people the right to use the bathroom with which they identified. The resulting firestorm over HB2 has cost the state hundreds of new jobs, concerts and other events and made North Carolina a target of international criticism.

In a statement issued Monday following the filing of his lawsuit, McCrory, who’s in a tough re-election fight, accused the administration of President Barack Obama of making up federal law in finding HB2 discriminatory. He has said that HB2 is a commonsense law makes bathrooms safer for women and children, and he and other Republican leaders described the Justice Department’s ultimatum last week as an example of punitive federal overreach.

“The Obama administration is bypassing Congress by attempting to rewrite the law and set restroom policies for public and private employers across the country, not just North Carolina,” the Charlotte Republican said in his Monday statement. “This is now a national issue that applies to every state and it needs to be resolved at the federal level. They are now telling every government agency and every company that employs more than 15 people that men should be allowed to use a women’s locker room, restroom or shower facility.”

The law is already the target of a federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups. HB2’s provision that limits transgender bathroom usage to the sex of an individual’s birth risks the loss of billions in federal dollars flowing into the state, the groups said in a joint statement.

In a Monday statement, they accused McCrory and other Republican leaders of “doubling down on discrimination.”

“The federal government made clear that HB2’s mandate of discrimination against transgender people violates federal civil rights laws, but McCrory and other political leaders in the state have decided to risk federal funding to maintain that discrimination,” the statement said.

“Transgender people work for the state of North Carolina, attend school in North Carolina, and are a part of every community across the state. It is unconscionable that the government is placing a target on their backs to advance this discriminatory political agenda. Lawsuits are normally filed to stop discrimination – not to continue it.”

Angela Mazaris, director of Wake Forest University’s LGBTQ Center, accused McCrory of election year politics in defying the federal government.

“This is not a safety issue, it’s a civil rights issue,” Mazaris said in a statement released by the university. “Gov. McCrory is playing political games, and everyday North Carolinians will pay the price, whether that comes in lost private sector revenues, lost public funding, or both. If Gov. McCrory is concerned with public safety, he ought to educate himself about the needs and experiences of transgender North Carolinians, whose health and safety is threatened by HB2.”

Researcher Maria David contributed.

This story was originally published May 9, 2016 at 12:59 PM with the headline "McCrory sues Feds over HB2; U.S. attorney general plans ‘enforcement action’."