REUTERS/Jonathan Drake
The effort to repeal HB2, North Carolina’s so-called bathroom bill, fell apart Wednesday. The hotly contested law bars transgender people from using bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity. In a bipartisan deal, North Carolina legislators agreed that if the city of Charlotte would repeal its LGBT protection laws, state lawmakers would repeal HB2. On Wednesday, Charlotte lawmakers agreed to repeal their non-discrimination laws in exchange for a HB2’s repeal. But on Wednesday evening, Republican lawmakers refused to uphold their side of the bargain, and instead inserted new terms for the repeal. Terms included a six-month ban on new local ordinances, which would temporarily block cities like Charlotte from passing new civil-rights laws. North Carolina’s house adjourned Wednesday night without a vote on the HB2 repeal.