Between laughs, McCrory continued to misrepresent the bill as simple protection of privacy rather than what it is: a green light to discriminate against gay and transgender people. After weeks of damaging national publicity and setbacks for the state's economy, most governors would be hard at work figuring out a way to fix the HB2 mess.
The agency gave North Carolina officials until Monday to confirm "the State will not comply with or implement" the law, known as House Bill 2, according to a letter obtained by the Charlotte Observer. Should state officials ignore the Justice Department, North Carolina could lose millions of dollars in federal funding. [...] "Access to sex-segregated restrooms and other workplace facilities consistent with gender identity is a term, condition or privilege of employment," wrote Vanita Gupta, principal deputy assistant attorney general, in the letter. "Denying such access to transgender individuals, whose gender identity is different from the gender assigned at birth, while affording it to similarly situated non-transgender employees, violates Title VII." "HB 2," added Gupta, "is facially discriminatory."