North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory says the federal government is overreaching with its decision to force North Carolina to stop implementation of its so-called “bathroom law” by Monday.
The Department of Justice has told North Carolina that it must stop implementing the law by Monday or else it will lose billions of dollars in federal funding.
The law requires people to use the restroom based on the sex listed on their birth certificate. The statute has been criticized for discriminating against transgendered people. McCrory, speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” said the Justice Department is making up law by telling North Carolina to stop implementing the law because it violates the Civil Rights Act.
“There is no clear definition of gender identity,” he said. “It’s the federal government being a bully and making law by their interpretation.”
McCrory said the edict handed down by the Department of Justice would impact every school, every business with more than 15 people and every university in the country.
“This is not just North Carolina,” McCrory said. “They are telling every university that accepts federal funding that boys that may think they’re a girl can go into a girl’s locker room, restroom or shower facility and that begins, I assume, tomorrow.”
McCrory was non-committal on how he will deal with the order. While countering the Department of Justice’s arguments, McCrory said he plans to take the next 24 hours to make a decision about whether to stop implementing the law.
“We’re looking at all our options right now, but we also want to get feedback from businesses throughout the nation that are impacted on this and all universities throughout the nation that are impacted on this,” he said.
McCrory added it’s unreasonable to ask North Carolina to make such a decision so quickly.
“They gave the ninth largest state three working days to a pretty complex letter and a pretty complex request,” he said.
