North Carolina
North Carolina laws curtailing transgender rights prompt less backlash than 2016 ‘bathroom bill’
RALEIGH, N.C. — Seven years ago, North Carolina became ground zero in the nationwide fight over transgender rights with the passage of a “bathroom bill” that galvanized culture warriors, canceled business projects and sporting events and influenced a gubernatorial race.
And while a similarly Republican-controlled legislature’s enactment this week of a trio of laws aimed at transgender youth generated passion from advocates and legislators, the public pushback against these policies has been light compared to 2016 and House Bill 2. And the corporate world largely has taken a pass on getting involved.
What can the change in attitudes be attributed to? Top legislators said this week’s measures, approved when they overrode Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes, already have taken effect in other states and resonate with the public.
That compares to 2016, when then-GOP Gov. Pat McCrory faced significant backlash for signing a bill that banned cities from enacting new anti-discrimination ordinances and required transgender people to use public restrooms that corresponded with the sex on their birth certificate.
“Since that time, because that first dip in the pool of fear has happened, it’s been used over and over successfully in other states,” said Katie Jenifer, policy director at the LGBTQ+ advocacy organization Equality North Carolina.
Republican Senate leader Phil Berger acknowledged Thursday that the “bathroom bill” is widely regarded as the prelude to the present wave of legislation affecting trans people nationwide. He called the 2016 law the “tip of the spear” in the ongoing debate.
When the law passed, major sports tournaments, businesses and conventions pulled out of North Carolina, costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue before the policy was eventually rolled back in 2017 and settled in federal court in 2019.
Republicans now hold veto-proof majorities in both chambers for the first time since 2018, which has opened the door to some LGBTQ+ restrictions that had not previously gained traction in the state. And, Berger added, “the business community has for the most part decided that they’re going to concentrate on their business and not delve into those matters of policy.”
Businesses have not shown up for trans people in the same way they did in 2016, Jenifer said, noting that the community used to have “a really big ally” in the National Collegiate Athletics Association, which moved several championship games to other states in protest of the “bathroom bill.”
Conservative politicians have since turned the tables, spreading fear of a transgender contagion and boycotting companies that partner with trans celebrities. Most notably, Bud Light sales plunged because of conservative backlash to a sales campaign featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Politicians now have a clearer path to pass these laws without fear of losing revenue, Jenifer said, because it has become riskier for businesses to support trans rights.
Although the Republican General Assembly had drawn up the bathroom bill, it was McCrory who became the public face of the legislation. Cooper, then the attorney general, blamed McCrory for the negative publicity and business announcements during their gubernatorial campaign. Cooper ended up winning by just 10,000 votes.
The fact that legislators in other states have since passed similar prohibitions without significant political repercussions gave North Carolina Republicans more confidence — and cover — to advance the measures, said Western Carolina University professor Christopher Cooper, who is not related to the governor.
“It’s happened other places, and they didn’t lose their jobs,” he said.
Legislation enacted Wednesday bars medical professionals from providing hormones, puberty-blocking drugs and surgical gender-transition procedures to anyone under 18, with limited exceptions. The House and Senate also enacted laws prohibiting instruction about gender identity and sexuality in K-4 public school classrooms and banning transgender girls from playing on girls sports teams from middle and high school through college.
The governor and several Democratic lawmakers warned repeatedly of a similar economic fallout as the bills moved through the legislature.
In his July veto message for the three bills, Cooper said Republicans are “damaging our state’s reputation and economy like they did with the harmful bathroom bill.”
Sen. Jay Chaudhuri of Wake County drew a similar comparison Wednesday during floor debate. He criticized Republicans for prioritizing legislation that he said limits the ability of doctors and parents to take care of vulnerable children, when they’re more than a month behind on passing a budget.
“We talk about running our state like a business, but we’re costing our taxpayers $42,000 a day because we don’t have a budget,” Chaudhuri said.
Republicans are cognizant of the attempts to link the new laws to the original bathroom bill, but they argue public opinion has changed and more people consider these measures necessary.
House Speaker Tim Moore said Thursday he saw little connection between the 2016 law and those enacted this week, when he said lawmakers acted in defense of children and fair competition.
And when the Senate voted in April for a version of the sports measure, Majority Leader Paul Newton of Cabarrus County responded to what he called a “vague threat” by opponents that businesses would retaliate against North Carolina for the bill like they did in 2016.
“I just do not believe that is true. No. 1, this is not HB 2,” he said, referring to the so-called bathroom bill. “And No. 2, this is common sense.”
A former Duke Energy executive, Newton pitched the bill as a benefit to business leaders thinking of expanding to the state: “If you come to North Carolina and you have daughters, we’re guaranteeing that they are treated fairly,” he said.
Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Monday signed legislation that places an official definition of antisemitism into state law, which supporters say could help law enforcement determine whether someone should be charged under current hate crime prohibitions based on race, religion or nationality.
The measure came to Cooper’s desk after the Senate and House approved it in near-unanimous votes last week. The bipartisan backing followed recent heated nationwide campus protests over the Israel-Hamas War and supporters’ concerns that some comments by pro-Palestinian demonstrators had crossed the line into being antisemitic.
The act adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which is outlined as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.” It also includes several examples of antisemitism, such as the denial of Jewish people’s right to self-determination and applying double standards to Israel’s actions.
In a statement Monday, Cooper said the now-enacted “SHALOM Act” addresses rising antisemitism.
“While we protect the right to free speech, this legislation helps to make our state a more welcoming, inclusive and safe place for everyone,” the Democratic governor said.
A coalition of civil liberties and multifaith groups opposed the legislation, saying it could stifle protesters’ otherwise free speech, particularly of words critical of Israel. Opponents demonstrated outside the governor’s mansion late last week urging that he veto the bill.
As of Monday afternoon, Cooper still had more than 20 bills on his desk sent to him by the General Assembly before lawmakers wrapped up their primary work session for the year. Cooper has a 10-day window on each bill to sign them into law or veto them. A bill becomes law if he takes no action within 10 days.
Featured photo via AP Photo/Bryan Anderson.
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North Carolina
North Carolina election board faces GOP-led federal investigation over parties’ ballot access
(The Center Square) – Actions of the state Board of Elections in North Carolina are being investigated by the Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives, led by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
This is after the board denied ballot access to three political parties, even though each exceeded the number of signatures required to qualify.
In a letter from the Judiciary Committee and the House Administration Committee, which is also investigating the decision, the lawmakers stated they are seeking more “documents and information” about the decision.
“The Committee on House Administration and the Committee on the Judiciary are concerned that the NCSBE’s decision was politically motivated and may have been done to influence the 2024 presidential election by limiting the candidates for which voters may cast their ballots,” wrote Jordan and Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wisconsin.
Steil is chairman of the House Administration Committee.
The three parties support Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cornel West, and Randall Terry for the 2024 presidential race.
The parties each submitted more than the 13,865 votes required to appear on the ballot, according to records from the state’s Board of Elections.
While they were first denied access to the ballot last week, the committee said before the federal investigation was even open that they would reconsider the issue again in July.
The letter from the federal committees says the decision was made based on the “political motivations” of the members of the board, pointing out that the three Democrats on the board all voted against the petition requests.
“For example,” the letter says. “In its denial of one petition, the Democrat members voted to block the petition simply because the address of the party’s chairman was not up to date on the petition sheets.”
Both Republicans on the board voted in favor of approving the petition.
The federal committees were not the first to react negatively to the board’s decision, which faced widespread backlash.
The Libertarian Party of North Carolina released a statement supporting the petitions from the other three underdog parties, calling the decision “election interference.”
“The Libertarian Party of North Carolina (@LPNC) is deeply disappointed, though hardly surprised, with the North Carolina State Board of Elections (@NCSBE) decision yesterday to limit the choices of the people of North Carolina in keeping the We the People Party, the Constitution Party, and the Justice for All Party off the ballot in North Carolina,” it posted on X. “We resoundingly reject this partisan and anti-American decision that mocks the concept of democracy and destroys any pretense of representative government.”
If the decision is not reversed soon, the candidates will miss the deadline to appear on the ballot in November.
Because of this, the federal committees requested the board respond to their request by Monday so they can “conduct oversight” and avoid any undue “influence” or “sway” the board is attempting to have over the election in North Carolina.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina state senator who helped lead a powerful committee has resigned days after the General Assembly completed this year’s primary work session.
The resignation of Republican Sen. Jim Perry of Lenoir County was effective Tuesday, according to a letter he sent Monday to the Senate Principal Clerk’s Office.
Perry, who was a co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and a majority whip, already was not seeking Senate reelection this fall. And he delivered a farewell address to his colleagues on the Senate floor last Thursday.
Perry was appointed to the Senate in early 2019, replacing the retiring Sen. Louis Pate. He’s represented Beaufort, Craven and Lenoir counties.
“It is a special privilege to serve in the North Carolina Senate,” Perry wrote Monday. “I am appreciative of those who sacrificed their time to help me to gain a little more knowledge on each day of this journey.”
Perry announced last December that he wouldn’t run, saying he couldn’t make the time commitment necessary to be an effective senator for another two-year term.
“I am entering a season of life where I will need more time to support those closest to me,” he said at the time.
Republican activists in Perry’s 2nd Senate District will choose someone to fill his seat for the remainder of his term through the end of the year. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is obliged by state law to appoint their choice.
Republican Bob Brinson and Democrat Charles Dudley already are running in November for the same Senate seat in the heavily GOP area, although it will be renamed the 3rd District.
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