CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Latest on an ordinance approved by the Charlotte City Council to expand protections for gay, lesbian and transgender people (all times local):
4:50 p.m.
Gov. Pat McCrory wants North Carolina’s legislature to prevent Charlotte and any other local government in the state from making regulations allowing transgender people to use restrooms or locker rooms that correspond to their gender identity.
The Republican governor told The Associated Press on Tuesday he was “disappointed and saddened” by the Charlotte City Council’s vote Monday night that expanded a nondiscrimination ordinance relating to public accommodations. He says the action upsets the right to privacy that people expect. He says people expect others in their restroom or locker room to have the same anatomy as they do.
McCrory says he calls it “an extreme regulation that changes the basic norms of society.”
House Speaker Tim Moore said earlier Tuesday that he would work with McCrory and legislators to correct Charlotte’s action.
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10:10 a.m.
North Carolina’s Republican state House speaker says he’s looking at how the legislature could override a Charlotte City Council decision allowing transgender people to choose bathrooms in private businesses that correspond to their gender identity.
House Speaker Tim Moore said Tuesday in a statement that the council “has gone against all common sense” and created a “major public safety issue” with its vote Monday night.
Moore says he’ll work with GOP Gov. Pat McCrory and other lawmakers to see what legislative intervention can “correct this radical course.” McCrory warned council members before the vote that the legislature could step in and that he would support such action.
The legislature can vote to cancel North Carolina local government policies.
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4:35 a.m.
North Carolina’s largest city has passed a law allowing transgender people to choose public bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity, which the governor had called a threat to public safety and warned that the General Assembly may step in.
The Charlotte City Council voted 7-4 Monday to expand protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity, making it the latest frontier in a national debate on how businesses treat gay, lesbian and transgender customers. One of the revisions to the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance allows people to choose restrooms corresponding to the gender with which they identify.
Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts says she’s pleased the city has sent a signal that they’ll treat people with dignity and respect.
But North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory — a former mayor of Charlotte – said in an email Sunday that changing the policy on restrooms could “create major public safety issues.”
