Transgender Rights Memo

Transgendered people in America have made many great strides since the 1990s. They have encountered violence, lack of health care, and the loss of homes, jobs, family and friends. There have been many phases of the struggle of being transgendered in America over the years. The current phase we must be in now is equal rights. There are many variations of discrimination against the transgendered community. In our society we simply do not like what we do not understand. It is easier to discriminate than to try and understand. We are all created different and we should appreciate our differences. The change must come by addressing the views of the public. There is much justification in the unequal rights of transgendered peoples. The Human

House Bill 2, also referred to as the bathroom bill or HB2, was passed into law as the Public Facilities Privacy and Securities Act. There is so much more to this recently passed law than allowing transgendered people to access there bathroom of choice. HB2 sets a certain criteria for who may, or may not be protected against discrimination. A person is only protected from discrimination of the information on their birth certificate and their religion. Sexual preference however, is not protected by state law, and it has never been. This law also removes the standard minimum wage set by a city or county that is imposed on private employers. Schools that depend on federal education funding could be affected by HB2. NC state law requires students to use bathrooms according to their gender. The federal government has a law that does not allow discrimination in any school program, and it also covers sexual preferences under it’s sexual discrimination clause. This law is a disgrace to what the fore fathers of this country clearly stated in the Declaration of Independence.

House Bill 2 (HB-2) in North Carolina, also known throughout the U.S. as the bathroom law, has made national news as the latest discriminatory law against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer (LGBTQ) community. Details of the law will be provided below, but the component of it that seems most controversial and most misunderstood is the mandate for men and women to use the bathroom of the gender into which they were born rather than that to which they have been reassigned. North Carolina governor Pat McCrory has championed HB-2 regardless of the significant detriment and revenue loss his position has cost the state.

Did you know that House Bill 2 eliminates any state law claim for discrimination in the workplace based on gender orientation? You can now get fired for your race, religious beliefs, sex, etc. HB2 has been just discrimination against Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgender, Transsexuals and Queer people (LGBTQ people). The downfall of that claim was it cited a study that said North Carolina might lose more than $500 million, not that it already had. At the time we found a more accurate estimate of losses was between $77 million and the 201 million (Will Doran). House Bill 2 is referred to as the bathroom law. The prominence of House Bill 2 is to determine the rights of transsexual and transgender people to use the bathroom without discrimination. But the state overrode it and ended up doing harm.

All individuals are born with certain rights that are guaranteed to us a citizen of the United States and as human beings. These rights include the fact that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” (“Universal Declaration”). In the United States, we are also guaranteed the rights to not be discriminated against due to race, gender, age, sex, and sexual orientation, however, discrimination is all too common. Discriminatory laws and practices occur all over the United States daily and affect many minority groups. In recent months, North Carolina passed a new law, House Bill 2 or BH2, that requires individuals to use the bathroom of their biological sex, or what sex they were born. House Bill 2 violates the rights of thousands of individuals and has caused many social justice issues to come to light.

When examining the details of HB2, it goes on to sweep away the protection of LGBT members, repealing HB2 can be extremely beneficial to this community. March 23 of 2016 was the day the North Carolina legislature passed the law that says if you are a girl, go to the women’s restroom and if you are a boy, go to the men’s

In the United States, the only LGBT right guaranteed on the national level is same-sex marriage. North Carolina pales in comparison to other states on this front, especially when you consider the effects of House Bill 2. In this memo, I propose that State Republicans work towards a prompt repeal of House Bill 2, in an effort to curb the economic consequences of it. A repeal would give local institutions the right to establish their own nondiscrimination policies, reverting the status quo prior to House Bill 2. A majority of Americans support providing these protections, proving that it is a salient and pertinent issue to debate as we approach the 2018 midterm elections.

Governor Pat McCrory as well as the General Assembly stated that their reasoning for adoption of House Bill 2 was based on the safety and well-being of children and women, from male predators that would be entering into women’s bathrooms. What should have been taken into account is there has been no evidence showing male predators taking advantage of these nondiscrimination ordinances in other places in America to go into a bathroom to commit a crime involving a woman or child. Also a lot of those ordinances in other places have been in effect over time and nothing has happened. What needs to be focused on is the evidence that has been provided showing children and youth of the LGBTQ community suffering from being bullied as well as assaulted

The North Carolina House Bill 2 states that transgender people are required to use the bathroom that they biologically identify with. As well as allowing businesses to discriminate against transgender people. As the number of people supporting the LGBT community grows the constitutionality of the law is being questioned.

In the long fight of the LGBTQ+ community to gain equal rights in the United States, recent issues have come up against transgender people using public restrooms, specifically youth in high schools. One of the most publicized controversies in recent news is the state of North Carolina passing a law against trans people using the bathroom that does not match the gender on their birth certificate. Since March of 2016, trans people have had to choose between their comfort or their own personal safety. Opposition to the transgender cause have argued that allowing trans people to use the restroom of their preference will cause sexual attacks on cisgendered people using the bathroom, specifically coming from transgender women who were biologically

Numerous studies have shown that transgender people face disproportionate amounts of discrimination in all areas of life, especially in employment. As the American economy worsens, the discrimination faced by transgender people is becoming even more acute. Often forced into already unstable jobs and careers, and often facing compounding bias because of race or age, the economic well being of transgender people is being challenged today like never before (National Center for Transgender Equality, 2011). The National Transgender Discrimination Survey showed that ninety percent (90%) of those surveyed reported experiencing harassment or mistreatment on the job or took actions to avoid it (Grant, M., Mottet, Tanis, Harrison, Herman, & Keisling, 2011). Lombardi, Wilchins, Priesing & Malouf (2001) asserted that people who are open about being trans or request accommodations are more likely to be harassed, intimidated, or fired. In addition, The National Transgender Discrimination Survey indicates that forty-seven percent (47%) of survey respondents said they had experienced an adverse job action; they did not get a job, were denied a promotion or were fired

Schools have been advised by the Obama Admin. that they are to allow students to use their preferred facilities. Saying that “it is a civil rights issue protected under the federal sex discrimination law known as Title IX.” In North Carolina there was much debate over whether they would repeal their Bathroom Bill partially or altogether, seeing this as an overstep by the government’s hand. There was a multitude of attempts to come to an agreement between Republicans and Democrats deciding on the law. There was one proposal to repeal the Bathroom Bill made by State Republican Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, but many found it not very helpful because it would put a “temporary ban on any local government effort to enact or amend an ordinance regulation access to restrooms, which in addition to its bathroom provision, also reversed local ordinances expanding protection for LGBT people.” Accusations against Republicans have been made by Democrats after the Legislature adjourned without any repeal of the Bathroom Bill. The Democrats accuse the Republicans involved of “reneging on a pledge to eliminate completely what has been called the Bathroom Bill.” Legal challenges have been filed against North Carolina with the outcome of the legislature, they are arguing that the “statewide ban on added protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people violates the US Constitution’s equal protection clause.” With news of the failure in N.C spreading, multiple cases are breaking out and challenging the restriction of free bathroom access. One case in specific being a seventeen-year-old transgender boy, Gavin Grim in Gloucester, Virginia. He has challenged his school board for making him use the girl’s restroom. The outcome of the legislation in N.C has been an upheaval of rage and anger from the LGBTQ community. The Washington Post met up

On March 23, North Carolina passed the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, commonly referred to as HB2. The new legislation mandates that students in North Carolina state schools use the bathroom that corresponds with the sex listed on their birth certificate. Although North Carolina is currently making headlines, it is not the only state has passed anti-LGBT legislation. In fact, there have been almost 200 anti-LGBT bills introduced in other states since January. Opponents criticize HB2 for excluding gay and transgender people from privacy and legal protections. As a result, North Carolina has received major backlash across the board from citizens of the state, officials of other states, and large corporations such as PayPal.

The two most sweeping anti-LGBT bills to become law, HB 1523 in Mississippi and HB 2 in North Carolina, we promptly challenged in court. In North Carolina, the passage of HB 2 has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue to the state, costly litigation, and former Gov. Pat McCrory’s defeat at the ballot in November.

In 2016, North Carolina passed the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, also known as House Bill 2 (HB2). House Bill 2 is an anti-LGBT law that requires people to use the public facilities that corresponds to the sex marked on one’s birth certificate. The law is targeted toward transgender individuals in North Carolina and makes using the facilities that match with their gender identity illegal. The passage of the law has been looked down upon and states across the USA have banned