The Department of Justice announced a federal civil rights lawsuit against North Carolina on Monday for the state’s refusal to rescind House Bill 2, which prohibits transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice.
“This action is about a great deal more than bathrooms,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Monday afternoon at a press conference. “And let me speak now directly to the people of … my home state of North Carolina. You have been told that this law protects vulnerable populations from harm, but that is just not the case. Instead, what this law does is inflict further indignity on a population that has already suffered far more than its fair share. This law provides no benefit to society, and all it does is harm innocent Americans.”
The Justice Department said it will seek a court order declaring the bathroom restriction “impermissibly discriminatory.”
The move comes hours after the state said it plans to file a lawsuit against the federal government.
Last week, the Justice Department told North Carolina it had until the end of business Monday to reverse its law.
Lynch said the state’s March enactment of a law that struck down an anti-discrimination ordinance in Charlotte was comparable to other discriminatory practices, such as the Jim Crow laws following Reconstruction.
“This is about the dignity and the respect that we accord our fellow citizens and the laws that we as a people and as a country have enacted to protect them, indeed, to protect all of us,” Lynch said. “And it’s about the founding ideals that have led to this country haltingly but inexorably in the direction of fairness, inclusion and equality for all Americans.”
The suit says the state, the state Department of Public and Safety, and University of North Carolina engaged in employment discrimination that breaches Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
It also says the University of North Carolina breached the Civil Rights Act’s Title IX for discriminating based on sex in its educational programs. The government will retain the option for stripping funding to the state and university.
Lynch promised equality for the transgender community.
“No matter how isolated, no matter how afraid, and no matter how alone you may feel today, know this — that the Department of Justice and indeed the entire Obama administration want you to know that we see you, we stand with you, and we will do everything we can to protect you going forward. And please know that history is on your side,” Lynch said.
