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Justice Department Calls HB2 Discriminatory, Demands Action

Governor Pat McCrory issuing Executive Order 93 which dialed back certain provisions of HB2. Wednesday, the Department of Justice said HB2 violates the Civil Rights Act. (screen shot of Governor McCrory's announcement video)

UPDATE 9:09 a.m. 

North Carolina's Republican leaders are calling a federal warning about the legality of the state's new law limiting LGBT anti-discrimination rules a broad overreach by the government McCrory and state legislative leaders are deciding what to do in response, but it doesn't sound like the Republicans' plans will include canceling the law.

ORIGINAL STORY: 

The U.S. Justice Department is weighing in on North Carolina's controversial House Bill 2. Federal officials say the law violates the Civil Rights Act.

Last month, a U.S. Appeals Court affirmed in a Virginia ruling that the definition of a person's “sex” also includes their “gender identity.”

Now, the Department of Justice has notified Governor Pat McCrory that HB2 violates the Civil Rights Act.

Among other things, HB2 carries a provision that compels transgender people to use the bathroom of their biological sex in public buildings, not their gender identity. According to the Department of Justice, that's discrimination.

The McCrory administration now has until Monday afternoon to assure the Department of Justice it will not implement the law.

If the determination is upheld, the state could be at risk of losing potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in school funding.

Sean Bueter joined WFDD in August 2015 as a reporter covering issues across the Piedmont Triad and beyond.Previously, Sean was a reporter, host and news director at WBOI in Fort Wayne, Ind., just a few hours from where he grew up. He also sorted Steve Inskeep's mail as an intern at NPR in Washington, D.C.Sean has experience on a variety of beats, including race, wealth and poverty, economic development, and more. His work has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and APM's Marketplace.In his spare time, Sean plays tennis (reasonably well), golf (reasonably poorly), and scours local haunts for pinball machines to conquer.

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