North Carolina’s Terrible Anti-LGBT Law Is Even Worse than We Thought
North Carolina’s Terrible Anti-LGBT Law Is Even Worse than We Thought
The problem goes way beyond bathrooms.
By Nina Martin, ProPublica
| Tue Apr. 5, 2016 6:00 AM EDT
When North Carolina lawmakers passed what is widely viewed as the most sweeping anti-LGBT law in the country, supporters said it was needed to fend off a potential wave of local laws like the transgender-friendly bathroom ordinance adopted by the city of Charlotte. Opponents have called the new law a "hostile takeover of human rights."
But all the attention on who can use toilets and locker rooms has overshadowed what employment rights advocates say is an even more expansive change made by the law—one that could affect all workers in North Carolina, not just those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
As has been widely reported, the North Carolina legislature rushed last month to pass HB 2, the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, which requires transgender people (and everyone else) to use public restrooms according to the biological sex on their birth certificate. It also bars local governments from passing ordinances like Charlotte’s.
The legislation doesn’t stop there, however. Tucked inside is language that strips North Carolina workers of the ability to sue under a state anti-discrimination law, a right that has been upheld in court since 1985. "If you were fired because of your race, fired because of your gender, fired because of your religion," said Allan Freyer, head of the Workers’ Rights Project at the North Carolina Justice Center in Raleigh, "you no longer have a basic remedy."
More:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/04/north-carolina%E2%80%99s-terrible-anti-lgbt-law-even-worse-we-thought
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