Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
NORTH CAROLINA LAWMAKERS have failed to scrap a law that served as a spark in America’s ‘bathroom wars’ over transgender identity, and the broader cultural battle between conservatives and liberals.
The state assembly had convened a special session to do away with the so-called House Bill 2, which requires transgender people to use toilets corresponding to the gender on their birth certificates — not the one they identify as — in schools and government buildings.
Democrats and Republicans had earlier reached an agreement to repeal the law in exchange for Charlotte — North Carolina’s most populous city — dropping new gay rights provisions that were the trigger for the ‘bathroom law’.
However, lawmakers clashed for hours when discussing the issue yesterday – bickering over details of the compromise.
Ultimately, the Senate rejected a bill to repeal the law, and the House adjourned without making a decision.
The lawmakers aren’t scheduled to be in session again until next month.
“It is a shame that North Carolina’s General Assembly is refusing to clean up the mess they made,” James Esseks, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBT and HIV Project, said in a statement.
“The support for the LGBT community from political leaders, faith leaders, businesses, and everyday people that has emerged this year will not fade. These attempts to expel transgender people from public life will not be tolerated,” he said, adding that his group planned to challenge the law in court.
Business and concert boycotts
The law, which was passed in March, was widely condemned as discriminatory and resulted in North Carolina suffering a string of business boycotts.
Performers such as Bruce Springsteen and major sports groups cancelled events, and there was blowback from corporate titans such as Apple and Starbucks.
Republican Governor Pat McCrory is believed to have lost his re-election bid in November in part due to the law — which his incoming Democratic successor pushed to do away with.
Governor-elect Roy Cooper had argued that scrapping the bathroom law would help win back business and restore North Carolina’s tarnished reputation.
Political correctness
Amid the fray in North Carolina, President Barack Obama in May issued instructions for all public school districts in America to let transgender children use the toilet of their gender identity.
American conservatives protested this, saying the idea was political correctness gone too far.
Despite both parties seemingly reaching an agreement on the issue, many conservatives never wanted to repeal the law.
Social conservatives defended the transgender bathroom requirement — which has no enforcement or punishment provisions — as necessary to prevent heterosexual predators from masquerading as transgender to molest women and girls when they are vulnerable.
However, the US Justice Department and others contend the threat of sexual predators posing as transgender people to enter a bathroom is practically nonexistent.
Marriage equality
The US Supreme Court ruled last year that a marriage between people of the same sex is just as legitimate as one between heterosexuals.
The North Carolina gender law and others like it are widely seen as a backlash against the Supreme Court gay marriage ruling, with transgender people caught in the crossfire of a war between conservatives wed to traditional family values and progressives seeking greater rights for the LGBT community.
The US Supreme Court entered the debate in October, announcing it will consider the case of a 17-year-old in Virginia who was born a female but identifies as a male and has filed lawsuit to be able to use the boys’ bathroom at his high school.
Contains reporting from Associated Press
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
The last thing you should do is listen to ordinary people’s opinions on complex technical topics. Look at Brexit.
Listen to what the technical experts are saying, and they are all to a man saying that Cork city needs to be extended to give it a critical mass which is important for many reasons.
@Fred Jensen: at the cost of the county though. Even the financial rebate being proposed is only for 5 years before review and doesn’t factor in lost revenue to the county council from developments they have already partially paid for.
There is also a concern the the financial model maybe unachievable in the short term for the city council
Majority of ordinary people in the county are dead set against the city council taking over. Increase in rates…no or little investment in these new areas…theyll become back waters.
@Tony Skillington: the extended City Council should have more money to spend as it wouldn’t have to subsidise the rest of the county council. The council of course might struggle
@Tony Skillington: so who is responsible for that traffic jam they call Douglas??
@Michael Collins: that’s in the county at present. So the county
@Tony Skillington: are they? Must people living in Douglas probably aren’t even aware that they are in fact living in the county. The county would have a stronger case if they hadn’t been pushing people out to far flung places to live. Cork is relatively small yet they seem to think living in Mallow and commuting would be better than living near the city.
May as well extend it to Midleton, Mallow, Macroom and Bandon seeing as ye are on such a roll lads.
So is Limerick city now bigger than Cork City ??as they have extended their boundary, and encompassed a far greater population than Cork city..
@Gary Heslin: limerick city doesn’t exist. It is now part of the county limerick. But the old boundary had a greater land area than Cork city has presently with half the population.
@prop joe: Incorrect. Limerick City still exists. It may be a unity authority with the county but it still has a border, as such. Population including suburbs 95k.
Why has Cork City got its own council ?
@sportsmad: like must urban areas it is governed locally. The counties we have presently where drawn up by the British 400 hundred years ago and don’t really make sense anymore. We should look at all county boundaries.
@prop joe: I’d like to see West Limerick and North Kerry join as one county!
@Colm O’Sullivan: I would like to see from west clare to the cork border, from north tipp to the cork border and east waterford to the cork border all come under the cork banner.
It has a bigger population than half of the counties in Ireland as it is, if the proposed expansion is approved, only 2 counties in the Republic will have a bigger population.
have your say