Federal Judge Hears Arguments on Preliminary Injunction Against HB2

CHARLOTTE, NC – A Federal Court judge is weighing a decision that could have a major impact on North Carolina’s controversial House Bill 2. The ACLU and other groups suing the state want a preliminary injunction to block the bathroom portion of the law before the case goes to trial in November.

Lawyers representing the ACLU and the Justice Department told Judge Thomas Schroeder the law, “created more problems,” than it solved.
They argued the requirement for transgender people in schools and government buildings to use the bathroom listed on their birth certificate creates a “stigma of exclusion” that amounts to discrimination.

“That portion of the law was passed with no problem existing, simply to create problems for a targeted group of people,” says ACLU attorney Paul Smith.

Attorneys for the state of North Carolina and Governor Pat McCrory argued people in bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers have a “legitimate right not to be exposed.”

They told the judge HB2 is needed to “clarify public policy” and to reaffirm government interest in protecting privacy after the “overreach” of Charlotte City Council.

“We’ve seen what happens when people adopt these radical policies about bathrooms and that’s what the Department of Justice is pushing. That’s what the ACLU is pushing,” says Tami Fitzgerald, with NC Values Coalition.

The judge has not given a timeline for when he’ll make a decision.