State leaders stand against feds on HB2

Published May 7, 2016

by Matt Caulder, Capitol Connection, May 6, 2016.

State leaders stood in defense of the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act after the U.S. Department of Justice sent a letter to the state saying that HB2 violates the U.S. Civil Rights Act and Title IX.

Looming over the debate is a recent federal court ruling.

Title IX guarantees the right to equal education for both sexes and the relevant section of the U.S. Civil Rights Act refers to employment discrimination.

The department gave state officials until Monday to respond “by confirming that the State will not comply with or implement HB2” and demanding that the state send out information to “employees of the State an public agencies that, consistent with federal law, they are permitted to access bathrooms and other facilities consistent with their gender identity.”

The letter cites a recent 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in favor of a Virginia teen living life as a male, but born a female, allowing the teen to use the boy’s facilities in the school.

Senate Leader Sen. Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) responded to the DOJ by saying,

“This is a gross overreach by the Obama Justice Department that deserves to be struck down in federal court, and I cannot say it any better than Fourth Circuit Judge Paul Niemeyer did recently:

“‘This unprecedented holding overrules custom, culture, and the very demands inherent in human nature for privacy and safety, which the separation of such facilities is designed to protect. More particularly, it also misconstrues the clear language of Title IX and its regulations. And finally, it reaches an unworkable and illogical result.’”

If the state does not repeal HB2 and is found in violation of Title IX, the federal government could then withhold millions of dollars in public school funding and more than a billion dollars in federal funding for public universities in the state.

During the current school year, state public schools received $861 million. In 2014-15, the UNC system got $1.4 billion.

“A claim by the Obama administration charges that one part of House Bill 2, which requires state employees in public government buildings and students in our universities to use a restroom, locker room and shower facility that match their biological sex, is now in violation of federal law,” Gov. Pat McCrory. “The Obama administration has not only staked out its position for North Carolina, but for all states, universities and most employers in the U.S. The right and expectation of privacy in one of the most private areas of our personal lives is now in jeopardy. We will be reviewing to determine the next steps.”Wednesday night, McCrory called the letter “something we’ve never seen regarding Washington overreach in my lifetime,” saying that it was no longer just a North Carolina issue.

“This impacts every state, every university and almost every employee in the United States of America,” he said. “All those will have to comply with new definitions of requirements by the federal government regarding restrooms, locker rooms and shower facilities in both the private and public sector.”

House Speaker Rep. Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) called the letter “a huge overreach (by) the federal government.”

“It looks an awful lot like politics to me,” he said. “I guess President Obama, in his final months in office, has decided to take up this ultra-liberal agenda.”

The North Carolina Values Coalition issued a statement saying HB2 is in full compliance with federal law and lambasting the DOJ.

“The DOJ should be ashamed of itself for bullying North Carolinians, compromising the privacy and safety of our citizens, and spreading lies about what the clear language of Title IX and Title VII state,” the statement read.

http://nccapitolconnection.com/2016/05/06/state-leaders-stand-against-feds-on-hb2/