RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Legislators worked in a special session Wednesday and considered stopping any local government in North Carolina from passing an ordinance like the one Charlotte recently approved allowing transgender people to use the restroom aligned with their gender identity.
If the bill passes the Republican-controlled Legislature as expected and ultimately becomes law, it will deal a blow to an LGBT movement that has had success getting similar ordinances approved in more than 200 cities across the country.
Republican leaders at the General Assembly scheduled a one-day session after enough lawmakers requested to reconvene. They were responding to worries from constituents and conservative activists about the provision in the state’s largest city that’s set to take effect April 1. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have met again until late April.
Republican House Speaker Tim Moore has said intervening is necessary to protect the safety of women and children. There have been arguments that any man – perhaps a sex offender – could enter a woman’s restroom or locker room simply by calling himself transgender.
“What we’re doing is preserving a sense of privacy that people have long expected in private facilities and we are restoring and clarifying … the existing authority and limits of authority of local government,” said GOP Rep. Dan Bishop, who represents Charlotte, a bill sponsor.