Deal Set to Repeal Anti-LGBT Law in North Carolina

The law that sent businesses into an uproar in North Carolina is on the verge of repeal.

Gov. Pat McCrory, who signed a bill last week limiting the powers of his successor, announced plans to call a special session of the state legislature Wednesday, where legislators will consider repealing House Bill 2.

The anti-LGBT law requires transgender people at government buildings to use public bathrooms that do not match their gender identity. It also bans any city from passing an LGBT-inclusive antidiscrimination ordinance and bars residents from suing for discrimination in state court. The law, introduced and signed in less than 12 hours on March 23, was a Republican overreaction to the city of Charlotte passing an LGBT-inclusive antidiscrimination ordinance.

The news comes after the Charlotte City Council voted 10-0 Monday to repeal the ordinance that prompted HB 2. Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts told The Charlotte Observerthat the vote "should in no way be viewed as a compromise of our principles or commitment to nondiscrimination." Gov.-elect Roy Cooper, the Democrat who will be sworn in to replace McCrory in January, had lobbied the council for the repeal.

The deal represents a virtual step back in time, creating a reset of the law to a time before Charlotte passed its ordinance. But the Human Rights Campaign is celebrating the expected repeal of HB 2, which had hurt LGBT people across the state.

"HB2 is precisely why North Carolinians went to the polls and ousted Governor McCrory last month," said HRC president Chad Griffin. "It's time to chart a new course guided by the state's values of dignity and respect, not discrimination and hate -- and to ensure nondiscrimination protections exist in cities, towns and across the state of North Carolina."