It's Deadline Day for NC Response on Bathroom Law

DOJ had warned Gov. McCrory to come up with a way to 'remedy the situation'
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted May 9, 2016 7:56 AM CDT
It's Deadline Day for NC Response on Bathroom Law
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory pauses while making comments concerning House Bill 2 during a government affairs conference in Raleigh, NC, on Wednesday.   (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Monday's the day that the Justice Department has demanded to hear back from North Carolina on whether the state is going to enforce its contentious public restroom law, Reuters reports. The feds had warned the state via a trio of letters last week that the law—which requires transgender individuals to use bathrooms that match up with the gender they were designated at birth—flouts civil rights and is discriminatory, and could lead to a federal lawsuit. One of the letters gave Gov. Pat McCrory until the close of business Monday to offer his solution to "remedy the situation," per CNN. But although McCrory has indicated he'll respond by day's end, the governor appears to be digging his heels in to stick by House Bill 2, the AP notes, potentially risking both the suit and funding for his state.

UCLA School of Law attorneys estimate up to $4.8 billion in funding, mainly in the form of educational grants, could be at risk. During an appearance on Fox News Sunday, McCrory called the government a "bully" and framed the deadline as "unrealistic," per CNN. Roy Cooper, the state's Democratic AG, scoffed at the time complaint, reports the New York Times: "Governor McCrory signed HB2 into law in the dark of night after passing it in just 12 hours, and now complains when he's given five days to defend it." McCrory had been offered a one-week extension if he had conceded the law is discriminatory. On Fox News he rejected that option. "I'm not going to publicly announce that something discriminates, which is agreeing with their letter, because we're really talking about a letter in which they're trying to define gender identity, and there is no clear definition of gender identity." (More North Carolina stories.)

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