Republican legislators in North Carolina stalled a vote on the repeal of the controversial bathroom bill after multiple delays and private meetings between GOP lawmakers.
The state House approved the adjournment without voting to repeal the Public Facilities and Privacy Security act, or House Bill 2 (HB2), during a special session called by outgoing Gov Pat McCrory. Three house Democrats filed the repeal bill shortly before 2 pm, after multiple recesses.
Senate Republicans then filed shortly after with a “cooling off period”, which would block municipalities from approving ordinances affecting public accommodations and access to restrooms for more than six months.
The Senate still has to vote to adjourn, but the North Carolina General Assembly is not expected to hold the final vote as planned.
The political climate in North Carolina has reached a boiling point after GOP lawmakers voted to dramatically strip power from the Democratic Governor-elect Roy Cooper. Protesters filled the statehouse earlier in the week, many of whom accused outgoing Gov Pat McCrory of pulling off a legislative coup.
The delay of HB2’s repealment further illustrates that political turmoil.
“It would be a disaster for us to leave here without concluding our business,” said Rep Chris Sgro, “to repeal of piece of legislation that has hurt my community – your community, North Carolinians – every single day since its passage, and cost us hundreds of millions of dollars.”
HB2 prohibited transgender people from using the public restrooms corresponding with their gender identification. The House and Senate can still vote on the repeal, but Democrats believe the moratorium – which could be renewed every six months – could prevent cities from passing nondiscrimination laws.
“Don’t be fooled: this is not a full repeal of HB2, doubles-down on discrimination, and makes clear that NC is still closed for business,” said Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin.
Despite criticisms from Democrats and LGBTQ advocates, Republican Sen Phil Berger still saw the vote as a step in the right direction,
“It's an opportunity for us as a state to get this right,“ he said before the session.
Democratic Governor-elect Roy Cooper issued a statement on the special session after Charlotte City Council agreed to overturn a city non-discrimination ordinance. It will be the fifth special session in 2016.
“Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore assured me that as a result of Charlotte’s vote, a special session will be called for Tuesday to repeal HB2 in full,” Mr Cooper said in a statement. “I hope they will keep their word to me and with the help of Democrats in the legislature, HB2 will be repealed in full.”
However, advocates called for a full repeal of the ordinance, after discovering the City Council vote only covered one of the three sections that limited rights of LGBTQ individuals.
A source told WSCO that the two other parts of the ordinance remained because they didn’t pertain to HB2 specifically. Per the source, they were related to discrimination policies for passenger vehicles for hire and city contractors.
In an emergency session Wednesday morning, the council fully repealed the ordinance in a 7-2 vote. The City of Charlotte posted a statement on their Twitter account.
“The City of Charlotte is deeply committed to protecting the rights of all people,” the statement read.
Lt Gov Dan Forest released a statement ahead of the special session in support of HB2.
“I do not favour it’s repeal,” he wrote. “No economic, political or ideological pressure can convince me that what is wrong is right.”
Gov McCrory, who lost to Mr Cooper in the November election, signed HB2 into law last March. He also condemned the Mr Cooper’s call to appeal in a statement as a political move by the left.
“This sudden reversal, with little notice after the gubernatorial election has ended,” Mr McCrory said, “sadly proves this entire issue, originated by the political left, was all about politics at the expense of Charlotte and the entire state of North Carolina.”
But Rep Sgro had a rebuttal to the outgoing Republican’s sentiment: “For those of you tracking, [North Carolina General Assembly] may adjourn with no action, because GOP couldn’t get votes.
“Shows once and forever who’s playing politics."
