Governor Roy Cooper said on Tuesday that he will sign an executive order to improve the protection for LGBT residents soon. The announcement comes after he signed a bill in Match that partly repeal the controversial “bathroom bill,” HB2, signed by his predecessor, which barred transgenders from using public bathrooms consistent with their general identity.
While Cooper campaigned against HB2, some civil rights groups nonetheless criticized him for compromising with state Republicans and allowing some provisions of HB2 to remain in place.
Here is a time line of recent moments from the state’s long running and controversial battle for LGBT rights.
On October 10, 2014: A U.S. district judge strike down North Carolina’s ban on same sex marriages.
On January 28, 2015: North Carolina files a bill, known as SB2, allowing magistrates to rescue themselves from performing marriages based on any sincerely held religious objections.
On May 28, 2015, the bill is vetoed by then Governor pat McCrory, a Republican. That veto is overridden on June 11, 2015 by the North Carolina House of Representatives.
On March 23, 2016: McCrory signs into law House Bill 2, the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act.
Experts argue that the legislation is one the most anti-LGBT bills in the Untied States.
Under the HB2, municipalities were prevented from establishing their won rules that prohibits discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in housing and public accommodations.
The law orders all public schools, government agencies and public college campuses to require that multiple-occupancy bathrooms and changing facilities be used by people in accordance with their "biological sex" as stated on their birth certificate.
HB2 became popular is the “bathroom bill,” sparked protests and legal battles.
According to a Associated Press reports, continuation HB2 would cost North Carolina approximately $3.76 billion in lost businesses, jobs and consumer spending over the course of 12 years.
On March 30, 2017: After backlash to the "bathroom bill," lawmakers reach an agreement to repeal parts of the bill. The deal prevents local governments, schools and others from regulating multistall bathrooms, showers and changing areas and bars cities from enacting nondiscrimination ordinances for nearly four years.
On April 11, 2017: Three Republican legislators introduce the Uphold Historical Marriage Act that argues that despite the 2015 Supreme Court ruling making same-sex marriage legal across the nation, individual states should be allowed to make their own marriage laws.
On May 10, 2017: In a federal appeals court, the state defends SB2, the recusal law for magistrates. The state argues that SB2 does not impinge on same-sex couples' right to marry. Three couples brought the case, saying they have legal standing to sue the state because it spends public money to pay for magistrates to travel to perform marriages if all magistrates in an area rescue themselves.
On May 16, 2017: Governor Cooper said that he will act on his own and issue an order to expand protections for LGBT people in the state.
Senator Thom Tillis Collapsed during a Race in D.C.
AMandeep
