As widely reported in the media, on March 24, 2016, the state of North Carolina enacted a controversial new law clarifying that discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is not prohibited under state law, and mandating that transgender people, when using a public bathroom, must use one associated with their “biological” sex.
The new law, which has drawn sharp criticism from a wide range of employers, overrides all efforts by local governments in the state to prohibit discrimination both in the workplace and in public accommodations.
The North Carolina legislature called a special session to enact the new law in direct response to an ordinance, passed recently by the city of Charlotte, that would have allowed transgender people to use the bathroom of the sex with which they identify, rather than the bathroom associated with their biological sex.
The new law supersedes the Charlotte ordinance and directs that all public multiple occupancy bathrooms and changing facilities are to be designated for and used only by persons based on the biological sex listed on their birth certificates.
Importantly, the “bathroom” provision does not apply to private businesses, which are free to implement (or continue) policies concerning bathroom access that respect employee, customer, and third-party gender identity or expression.
The text of North Carolina’s new law, entitled the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, can be found here.
Members of the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) can read more here.