Trump on HB2: ‘I’m Going With the State’ in Support of Anti-LGBT Discrimination

DOJ Seeks Injunction Blocking Enforcement of Anti-LGBT Law

The Department of Justice sought an injunction Tuesday against North Carolina’s HB2, which would halt its enforcement until the the department’s lawsuit challenging the anti-LGBT measure is resolved. 

Meanwhile, presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump visited the Tarheel State and reiterated his support for HB2 at a rally in Raleigh.  

“I’m going with the state,” Trump told reporters backstage, in a video posted by The Charlotte Observer. “I mean, they know what’s going on. They see what’s happening. And generally speaking, I’m with the state on things like this. And I’ve spoken to your governor. I’ve spoken to a lot of different people, and I’m going with the state.” 

It’s not the first time Trump has backed HB2, but he nevertheless told the audience at the rally he would be “better for the gay community” than presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, BuzzFeed reports.

On Wednesday, the Human Rights Campaign and Equality North Carolina slammed Trump for his statements.

“Let’s be clear, Donald Trump just gave one of the nation’s worst laws for LGBTQ people a full-throated endorsement,” said JoDee Winterhof, HRC’s senior vice president for policy and political affairs. “By buddying up with Governor Pat McCrory on the deeply discriminatory HB2, Donald Trump is unabashedly embracing a dangerous law that takes away the civil rights of LGBTQ people and has cost North Carolina not only its reputation but millions of dollars in economic losses.”

In its memorandum filed Tuesday, the Justice Department argues that a 4th U.S. Circuit Court decision in G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board “establishes the United States’ strong likelihood of success under Title IX”, which they say HB2 violates because trans discrimination is a form of sex discrimination.

 

“H.B. 2 is not merely a solution to a non-existent problem; it is state-sanctioned discrimination that is inflicting immediate and significant harm on transgender individuals,” the DOJ wrote.

HB2 bars trans people from using restrooms according to their gender identity in government buildings, and prohibits cities from enforcing LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances. 

“Excluding transgender men and women from bathroom and changing facilities consistent with their gender identity causes significant and irreparable physical, psychological, economic, social, and stigmatic harm to transgender people,” the DOJ wrote.