How should we view North Carolina’s repeal of HB2, the so-called Bathroom Privacy Act?

It’s true that the state caved to the bullying tactics of the NCAA. But was it a complete capitulation? On one hand, the legislators took a step in the wrong direction. That’s why conservative organizations like ADF and FRC condemned the repeal. On the other hand, the legislators pushed back against LGBT activism. That’s why LGBT groups condemned the new bill. How do we sort this out?

Did North Carolina Give in to Bullies?

Let’s start with the negative.

Since the day HB2 passed, North Carolina has been bullied by big business, the media, and the world of sports and entertainment. “If you don’t repeal this mean-spirited bill, we will take our business elsewhere!”

Judging by the news reports, you’d think the state’s economy was floundering because of this pressure. The economy is actually thriving. It’s receiving some of the highest ratings in the nation in terms of overall health. As Lt. Gov. Dan Forest explained, the boycotts cost the state roughly one-tenth of 1 percent of its economy.

Why, then, did some legislators cave in when the NCAA gave them a 24-hour deadline to repeal HB2? Was it the bad publicity? Was it the importance of having these major college events brought back to the state? (After all, North Carolina just won the NCAA college basketball championship this week.)

Whatever the motivation, the capitulation seemed cowardly, as if money was more important than morality and popularity more important than principle.

As expressed by Kellie Fiedorek of ADF:

Sadly, North Carolina has failed families by giving in to hypocritical bullies like the NCAA and billion-dollar corporations. Every North Carolinian deserves to have their privacy respected in intimate settings like locker rooms and restrooms. One of government’s essential duties is to protect the citizens it governs, not to create uncertainty about whether showers and locker rooms will still be safe for women and girls. North Carolina’s economy is booming, so the state should not let the NCAA and others dictate the state’s policies and sell out their citizens’ interests based on flat-out lies about an economic doomsday that never happened.

LGBT Activists Didn’t Get What They Wanted

Still, things are not all bad. As former NC governor Pat McCrory explained, LGBT activists “did not get a full repeal of HB2.” (According to the HRC, McCrory’s support for the state’s compromise was a “kiss of death.”)

That’s why the editorial board of the left-leaning Charlotte Observer wrote:

Legislators and Gov. Roy Cooper hailed Thursday’s HB2 repeal bill as a compromise. In fact, it is nothing of the kind. It is a betrayal of the promises the governor made to the LGBT community and an entrenchment on discrimination by Republican legislators who have backed it all along.

Referring to the new bill, HB 142, the editors opined,

House Bill 142 literally does not do one thing to protect the LGBT community and locks in HB2’s most basic and offensive provision. It repeals HB2 in name only and will not satisfy any business or organization that is truly intolerant of an anti-gay environment and of a state that codifies discrimination.

HB2’s most fundamental requirement was that local governments cannot pass anti-discrimination ordinances that govern public accommodations such as restaurants and hotels. Under Thursday’s agreement, that is still true, until at least December 2020.

Return to the Status Quo

So where does this new bill leave us? How should we respond?

When it comes to bathroom privacy, the biggest thing the bill does is return to the status quo of 2015. This was before the Charlotte City Council passed a radical bill that would have in effect rendered all public bathrooms and locker rooms gender neutral. (This applied to public schools as well.)

As explained by law professor Greg Wallace, before “the Charlotte ordinance that sparked the debate, there were no laws regarding bathroom usage. If a man went into the women’s restroom, or vice versa … he’d likely be asked to leave, and if he refused, he could be arrested for trespassing.”

But, says the Charlotte Observer, “the legislation dodges the whole bathroom question. Charlotte’s ordinance allowed transgender individuals to use the public bathroom of the gender with which they identify. HB2 banned that. The new law does not specify what transgender people are to do.”

And that brings us back to where we were before 2016, which is not such a bad place.

Were there numerous instances of men posing as women in order to invade the ladies’ bathrooms and locker rooms? Not to my knowledge.

Were there male-to-female transgenders who appeared to be female getting kicked out ladies’ bathrooms? Not to my knowledge.

The NCAA is Happy With The Change

As the saying goes, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. Yet that is just what the Charlotte City Council did in 2016 with its city ordinance, leading to the passing of HB2. This led to the national boycotts and bad publicity, which led to the partial repeal of HB2.

As much as LGBT activists and their allies are outraged by the state’s actions, things were not so terrible before 2016. That’s why the NCAA and the NBA had no problem with full participation in the state. That’s why PayPal planned to bring new business to Charlotte. That’s why entertainers like Bruce Springsteen and Ringo Starr were scheduled to perform here.

Even the NCAA recognized this in their announcement that they were lifting their boycott:

We recognize the quality championships hosted by the people of North Carolina in years before HB2. And this new law restores the state to that legal landscape: a landscape similar to other jurisdictions presently hosting NCAA championships.

Of course, the NCAA managed to make some politically correct (but logically bankrupt) statements. They referred to “the cumulative impact HB2 had on local communities’ ability to ensure a safe, healthy, discrimination-free atmosphere for all those watching and participating in our events.”

Can someone please tell me how allowing biological males to play on female sports teams and share their locker rooms ensures “a safe, healthy, discrimination-free atmosphere for all those watching and participating in our events”? Can anyone explain this? And what would the NCAA do if one of the nation’s top, male college players announced he was female? Would he/she be welcomed on the women’s teams?

Naturally, the NCAA was careful to say that “as with most compromises, this new law is far from perfect.” Nonetheless, the NCAA’s decision to reverse its boycott indicates that the old status quo was acceptable. Therefore, with the partial repeal of HB2, there was no reason to continue the boycott.

Hopefully the NBA and others will follow suit. But if they choose not to, I hope the people of North Carolina will say, “we will do just fine without you.”

Back to Where We Were

As for moral conservatives upset by the compromise, I have a word of encouragement. The sky is not falling. HB 142 will not empower male predators to pose as women so as to prey on children and women. Common sense will prevail. The people of North Carolina will not have to fear speaking up to a bathroom intruder.

And where does this leave transgenders? As in the past, if no one can tell that you have “transitioned,” then no one will protest your presence in a bathroom. Why would they?

But if you are clearly a biological male who identifies as female and you walk into a ladies’ room, don’t be surprised if some ladies ask you to leave.

“That’s unfair,” you might say.

But what about fairness to everyone else? What about fairness to the 99 percent who are not transgender? What about the women who have been sexually abused by men who are traumatized by a male presence in these private places — even if the male in question is totally harmless?

I can’t imagine the struggles that trans individuals live with and the difficult choices they make. But we can’t turn society upside down to accommodate the few struggling souls. Instead, we listen to the them and do our best to help them, but we also remember the needs of the vast majority.

In short, here in North Carolina, we’re back to where we were in 2015 but with a few more legislative safeguards in place.

Overall, that’s not so bad. (For more from the author of “Did North Carolina Legislators Sell Their Souls for Dollars?” please click HERE) http://joemiller.us/2017/04/north-carolina-legislators-sell-souls-dollars/