Activists Are Now #PeeingForPat to Troll Transphobic N.C. Gov.

In the wake of North Carolina's new anti-LGBT law, which requires transgender people to use public bathrooms that do not match their gender identity, LGBT activists have launched a social media campaign highlighting the absurd, unenforceable nature of the law.

Since Republican Gov. Pat McCrory signed House Bill 2 into law on March 23 -- after the bill was rushed through the legislature in a single, day-long special session -- he has been saying the sweeping law is about protecting the safety and privacy of women and children. McCrory and his supporters continue to advance the provably false claim that allowing transgender people to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity permits sexual predators to enter gender-segregated spaces and assault people.

In reality, while more than 200 localities nationwide have trans-inclusive laws on the books, there has never been a single verified report of a transgender person assaulting a cisgender (nontrans) person in a restroom, nor have there been any instances of someone "pretending" to be transgender to gain access to sex-segregated spaces for nefarious purposes. By contrast, however, transgender people face a much higher risk of being the victims of physical and verbal assault in sex-segregated spaces, compared to their cisgender peers.

Raw Story reports the latest campaign began in earnest on Monday, when activist Sam Moore encouraged frustrated citizens in and visitors to North Carolina to contact the governor every time they used a public bathroom "to confirm your adherence or disregard of #HB2." On Facebook, Moore shared a graphic of a toilet in a private stall, with text indicating the phone number for the governor's office, accompanied by the hashtags #PeeingForPat and #HB2.

Since then, social media has been littered with snarky retorts to the governmental overreach, as LGBT people and allies announce that they are #PeeingForPat. Read on to see some of our favorites.