A group of North Carolina state senators is seeking to enact a new ban on transgender people using bathrooms and other single-sex facilities that correspond to their gender identity, nearly a decade after the state's infamous 2016 "bathroom bill." Filed Tuesday, Senate Bill 516, entitled the "Women's Safety and Protection Act," would bar trans people from using unisex restrooms. A new Senate bill attempts to thwart transgender rights and is being dubbed HB 2.0. (Courtesy Pexels) NORTH CAROLINA.
North Carolina made national news in 2016 for transgender bathroom rules that Republicans later repealed in face of boycotts. GOP lawmakers are now eyeing another attempt. In North Carolina, the issue of transgender bathroom laws has been a contentious topic, primarily due to the passage of House Bill 2 (HB2) in 2016, which required individuals to use public restrooms corresponding to the sex listed on their birth certificate.
This legislation sparked widespread criticism and legal challenges, as it was seen as discriminatory against the transgender community. An attendee holds a sign during the Trans Day of Visibility rally in downtown Wilmington. (Madeline Gray for The Assembly) North Carolina, a state once defined by its stance on transgender rights, has not.
Nine years ago, the state passed House Bill 2, which required people to use the bathroom corresponding with their gender assigned at birth. On Tuesday, state Republicans filed a bill to restrict transgender people from using public restrooms that don't correspond to their biological sex. Republicans in the North Carolina Senate introduced a new bill that would restrict which bathrooms transgender individuals can use.
The effort comes nine years after another GOP-backed law focused on transgender people and bathrooms cost North Carolina's Republican governor his job amid a national backlash aimed at the state. NORTH CAROLINA, USA. A controversial state Senate bill restricting transgender access to bathrooms and locker rooms is dead for now.
