On Thursday, May 5, 2016, the Washington Update from Tony Perkins at the Family Research Council reported that one day earlier, in
what can only be described as classic DOJ, the office fired off a nasty letter to North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory (R) claiming H.B. 2 (the law giving businesses the right to set their own bathroom policies) somehow violates the Civil Rights Act. According to the army of wannabe legislators at the Justice Department, the Tar Heels are treating “transgender employees, whose self-described gender identity does not match their ‘biological sex’… differently from similarly-situated non-transgender employees.”
Responding to this accusation, David French, writing in National Review, said, “This is a howler.” Yet if it is true, the Washington Update article went on to say, “then maybe the DOJ ought to send a letter to itself, because so does every federal park and building in America!”
The Daily Signal explained the situation this way:
The letter says that under HB2, North Carolina is “in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.” Title VII prohibits any employer from discriminating against an individual on the basis of sex. Experts disagree on whether Title VII applies to transgender people.
The letter also says that HB2 violates Title IX, which is the federal civil rights law that bans discrimination on the basis of sex in any program that receives federal education dollars. It has also been debated whether or not Title IX applies to transgender students, with courts ruling on both sides.
The Charlotte Observer reported, “If the finding [cited in the letter] is upheld, North Carolina could lose federal education funding. During the current school year, state public schools received $861 million. In 2014-2015, the University of North Carolina system got $1.4 billion.”
This is bullying on the part of the federal government. Chris Gacek, the Senior Fellow for Regulatory Policy at the Family Research Council, observes that “This is not a judicial opinion—it’s a threatening letter from the Department of Justice.” Gacek continues, stating that the DOJ is promoting “a radical re-interpretation of ‘sex’ in these statutory sections of Title VII. And even if [leaders] were to go this route on ‘sex,’ it’s not clear that bathrooms arranged biologically should be unlawful.”
North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest released a statement that says, “To use our children and their educational futures as pawns to advance an agenda that will ultimately open those same children up to exploitation at the hands of sexual predators is by far, the sickest example of the depths the Obama Administration will stoop to ‘fundamentally transform our nation.'”
Tim Moore, the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, indicated he has no plans to meet the Obama administration’s deadline of May 9 to repeal HB2.
North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory also understands the ominous implications of the Obama administration’s strong-arming states to comply with its twisted interpretation of federal law.
Speaking to business leaders Wednesday night, McCrory called the letter “something we’ve never seen regarding Washington overreach in my lifetime.”
“This is no longer just a N.C. issue. This impacts every state, every university and almost every employee in the United States of America,” he said. “All those will have to comply with new definitions of requirements by the federal government regarding restrooms, locker rooms and shower facilities in both the private and public sector.”
This is no longer just a N.C. issue. This impacts every state, every university and almost every employee in the United States of America. All those will have to comply with new definitions of requirements by the federal government regarding restrooms, locker rooms and shower facilities in both the private and public sector.
—North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory—
Here is Governor McCrory’s official statement about the letter:
A claim by the Obama administration charges that one part of House Bill 2, which requires state employees in public government buildings and students in our universities to use a restroom, locker room and shower facility that match their biological sex, is now in violation of federal law. The Obama administration has not only staked out its position for North Carolina, but for all states, universities and most employers in the U.S.
The right and expectation of privacy in one of the most private areas of our personal lives is now in jeopardy. We will be reviewing to determine the next steps.
Tami Fitzgerald is the executive director of the North Carolina Values Coalition and an advocate for HB2. She said, “I believe this action, on the part of an unpopular, lame duck president, is going to cause our legislature and our governor to dig themselves in deeper. I think they’re going to dig their heels in more and be true tar heels because the federal government has no right to try and force a state like North Carolina to do what they’re asking.”
The oppressive actions on the part of the federal government must stop, but if they are to stop, people need to hear what is really going on. The Family Research Council has put together this video summary.
Also, with Republican majorities in both the US House and the US Senate, it is inexcusable that a chorus of outrage isn’t arising in Washington, DC.
In a related matter taking place in another state,
Dozens of families on Wednesday sued two federal agencies and a suburban Chicago school district over a policy they said disregards student privacy and safety by allowing transgender students to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity.
Fifty-one families in the Palatine, Illinois, area sued the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Justice Department and Township High School District 211 for agreeing last December to provide a changing area in the girls’ locker room for transgender students. The lawsuit seeks an injunction to prevent enforcement of that agreement.…
“Every day of the school year a certain number of girls have to share the locker room space with a biological male and it makes them incredibly uncomfortable, stressed and anxious about the things going on in their school day,” Jeremy Tedesco, an attorney for the families, said at a news conference in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
“Protecting students from inappropriate exposure to the opposite sex is not only perfectly legal, it’s a school district’s duty,” said Tedesco.
Gary Bauer of the Campaign for Working Families, a conservative political action committee, has some strong words for the members of Congress:
- With regard to North Carolina: “Members of Congress should be issuing press releases condemning the Obama Administration for threatening to cut off federal education funding in North Carolina that overwhelmingly benefits poor minority children.”
- With regard to Illinois: “Again, I have to ask, where are our leaders in Congress? They should be issuing press releases and letters to the editor daily. There should be hearings on this issue every week.”
Are members of Congress afraid? They shouldn’t be! The results of the growing boycott against Target Stores because of their new bathroom policy is undeniable evidence the American people oppose what the administration is attempting to do.
Members of Congress, speak up!
Copyright © 2016 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All Rights Reserved.