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Kriston Pumphrey

Hi I’m Kriston Pumphrey and welcome to DTV News on Tuesday, May 10th. Thanks for joining us:

On Monday, May 9th, the Justice Department filed a civil rights lawsuit against against Governor Pat McCrory, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, and the University of North Carolina system, alleging that House Bill 2 (HB2) violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

How does House Bill 2 violate the Civil Rights Acts? The law itself eliminates anti-discrimination protections for gay, transgender, genderqueer, and intersex people, and legislates that individuals may only use restrooms that correspond to the sex on their birth certificates. This has been criticized because it prevents transgender people who do not or cannot alter their birth certificates from using the restroom consistent with their gender identity.

State officials have also been filing lawsuits to halt the operation of the legislation. In North Carolina, the public university system announced to the Justice Department that they will operate “in compliance with federal law” in regards to HB2.

According to Margaret Spellings, the UNC System President, policies at the university prohibit faculty from discrimination as it relates to “gender identity, sex, or sexual orientation.”

Concerts, company expansions, and celebrity appearances have been canceled in North Carolina after the passing of the controversial bill.

A statement released by the Justice Department read, “Denying such access to transgender individuals, whose gender identity is different from their gender assigned at birth… violated Title VII.”

The federal government is demanding North Carolina “remedy” the bill or be violating federal law.