How New Controversy with North Carolina's Bathroom Law Could Impact Conservative, Religious Business Owners

If you thought North Carolina's bathroom issue was over, think again. The Democratic governor's proposed legal settlement and executive order on the matter are fueling the fires over the issue anew.

The state's Republican leaders say a federal court should deny a deal by Gov. Roy Cooper that would uphold the rights of transgender people to use bathrooms that match their gender identity.

House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger released a statement, saying Cooper is bringing back negative feelings regarding North Carolina's bathroom law.

The Republican legislative leaders say Cooper's proposed legal settlement and his executive order that bans discrimination go back on the deal the governor helped create to replace the original bathroom law, HB2.

"Roy Cooper made a deal with the business community and the legislature to repeal HB2 and put divisive social issues that North Carolinians are sick of hearing about behind us, and his attempt to resurrect these issues shows he acted in bad faith and lied about wanting to end the focus on HB2," Moore and Berger said in the joint statement.

"We trust the court will reject the governor's latest stunt, which is inconsistent with the deal he negotiated to repeal HB2," they continued.

Earlier this year, a compromise deal replaced the controversial law known as HB2. The new law, known as HB142, did away with the mandate that transgender people use bathrooms in many public buildings that line up with the sex listed on their birth certificates.

However, the new law stated that only lawmakers can create regulations for public restrooms. HB142 also bans local governments from passing new nondiscrimination rules for restaurants, hotels and workplaces until 2020. 

LGBT activists say the new law is still discriminatory, and it faces a legal challenge. 

The proposed legal settlement or consent decree allows transgender people to use restrooms that match their gender identity in executive branch public buildings run by Cooper or his appointees.

If the judge approves the consent decree, the plaintiffs say they would drop their lawsuit against the governor and fellow defendants.

Cooper's executive order bans Cabinet-level departments that he oversees from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. His office says the executive order applies to 55,000 state employees and 3,000 vendors who provide jobs for thousands of people. The order could involve up to $1.5 billion in contracts. 

"Earlier this year, I said there was more work to do to protect against discrimination and make North Carolina a welcoming state," Cooper said in a statement last week. "Today's executive order and consent decree are important steps toward fighting discrimination and enacting protections throughout state government and across our state."

According to the Family Research Council, the leader of the North Carolina Values Coalition, Tami Fitzgerald, called the executive order, "a massive power grab, with sweeping changes that only the Legislative Branch has the authority to enact."

"It also means that anyone who has or seeks a government contract with the state or receives government benefits (like churches and religious organizations) will have to adopt internal operating policies that favor and give preference to people who are gay, lesbian, or transgender…," Fitzgerald said. 

"(This will) force private business owners and religious organizations to choose between living out their faith in their businesses or ministry or keeping their government contracts," she continued.

Members of the LGBTQ community also weighed in on Cooper's executive order.

"While this executive order may represent some narrow improvements for LGBTQ North Carolinians, by no means does it offer full protections or rectify the tremendous harm caused by HB 2 and continued harm from HB 142," said JoDee Winterhof, senior vice president of policy and political affairs for the Human Rights Campaign. 

"Governor Cooper and state lawmakers must show leadership on the real solution for North Carolina — statewide, LGBTQ non-discrimination protections," Winterhof continued.