North Carolina has repealed its controversial “bathroom law,” enacted last year, which mandated that transgender people, when using a public bathroom, must use the one associated with their “biological” sex. The law also prohibited North Carolina local jurisdictions from passing or amending ordinances regulating private employment practices or public accommodations, including ordinances relating to workplace discrimination.
Although the so-called “bathroom law” did not apply to private employer bathrooms, it immediately drew sharp criticism from a wide range of employers as blatantly discriminatory. Some of these businesses subsequently chose not to bring or expand their business to North Carolina as long as the law was on the books.
In apparent response to the significant backlash that has occurred, as well as the resulting loss of revenue to the state, the state legislature recently approved — and the governor signed — a bill to repeal the majority of the controversial law, leaving intact only that provision prohibiting local jurisdictions from passing or amending ordinances regulating private employment practices or public accommodations, and “sunsetting” that provision effective December 2020.
The text of the bill (HB 142) repealing the bathroom law is available here.
Members of the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) can read more here.