House Bill 2 — North Carolina’s anti-LGBT bathroom law

Groups supporting the rights of transgender people filed a motion on Monday, May 16, 2016, asking a U.S. judge to block North Carolina from enforcing a law that mandates bathroom access according to birth sex while the measure is being challenged.

The preliminary injunction is needed to protect transgender people from suffering irreparable harm due to the law known as House Bill 2, said the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of North Carolina and Lambda Legal, a national advocacy group for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people.

The law, enacted in March, made North Carolina the first state to ban people from using multiple-occupancy restrooms or changing rooms in public buildings and schools consistent with their gender identity. The legislation sparked a national debate about equality versus privacy rights, and has resulted in boycotts of the Southern state by businesses, conventions and entertainers. (Reuters)

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