On Friday, the National Center for Transgender Equality sent over 700 letters to the officials in charge of public colleges and universities, public hospitals, county health departments, state-run career centers, police and sheriff’s departments, public airports, and the state department of transportation in North Carolina. Similar to the letters NCTE sent to school districts in the state last week, these letters detail officials’ responsibilities to transgender people under federal laws that preempt House Bill 2, which was signed into law on March 23.
The letters make clear that violating federal law could have serious legal and financial consequences for these state- and locally-run public institutions. HB 2’s blatant discrimination violates several federal laws, including Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits sex discrimination by state and local government employers. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and U.S. Department of Justice have stated unambiguously that these federal nondiscrimination laws require that transgender people be treated according to their gender identity, including by being given the same access to restrooms and locker rooms that everyone else has.
The letters also outline numerous other laws that preempt HB 2, including the federal Title IX education law, the Affordable Care Act, the Workplace Innovation and Opportunity Act, the Federal Transit Act, the Federal-Aid Highway Act, the Airport and Airway Improvement Act, and federal laws governing police and justice system grants, including the Violence Against Women Act. All of these laws prohibit discrimination against transgender people by institutions receiving federal funds.
While HB 2 includes no enforcement mechanisms whatsoever, the consequences for violating federal law could include lawsuits, investigations by federal agencies, and potential losses of federal funding. The letters underscore why following federal law is in the public interest as well as agencies' financial interest, and point to resources for state and local agencies to better understand and serve transgender people.
Regarding the letters, NCTE Policy Director Harper Jean Tobin said:
State and local government agencies across the state of North Carolina must understand that the way HB 2 asks them to treat members of the public, as well as their own employees, is harmful, against federal law, and potentially very, very costly. We hope institutions around North Carolina will do the right thing, which will cost them nothing.
Read the letters on NCTE’s North Carolina Action Center here.
