RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal court heard anย argument on Monday toย immediately halt North Carolinaโs House Bill 2.
โAll I want is to use the appropriate restroom in peace, just like everyone else. Itโs humiliating that this law separates me from my peers and treats me like a second-class citizen,โ said Joaquรญn Carcaรฑo, 28, a UNC Chapel Hill employee and transgender man who is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.
Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of North Carolina, and the law firm of Jenner & Block are challenging the law on behalf of six LGBT North Carolinians.
โWeโre in court today because by requiring people to use restrooms that do not correspond to their gender identity, North Carolina not only endangers and discriminates against transgender people- it also violates federal law,”ย said Tara Borelli, senior attorney with Lambda Legal.
The complaint argues that House Bill 2 is unconstitutional because it violates the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment because it discriminates on the basis of sex and sexual orientation and is an invasion of privacy for transgender people.
โEvery day that House Bill 2 remains on the books, transgender people in North Carolina remain in the perilous position of being forced to avoid public restrooms or risk violation of state law,โ said Chris Brook, ACLU of North Carolina legal director. โThis cruel, insulting, and unconstitutional law targets transgender people in North Carolina and causes irreparable harm. It must be put on hold while it is reviewed by the court.โ
For more on the lawsuit,ย click here.
